


My Name Is Emily

by angelholme



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, NaNoWriMo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-17
Updated: 2013-10-17
Packaged: 2017-12-29 17:09:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 53,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1007944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelholme/pseuds/angelholme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Emily Brown starts work for Pathway Software, she learns the company is not what it seems. But that's okay, because Emily has some secrets as well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer
> 
> While some of the characters, locations and situations are based on real people and places, it is important to remember that "once you start writing, it all becomes fiction" - everything in this story is a fiction, purely an invention.
> 
> The story contains the following references:-
> 
> "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" (lyrics Fred Ebb, music John Kander)
> 
> "Doctor Who" (created by Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber and Donald Wilson, with Steven Moffat, Russell T Davies and others)
> 
> "Soothsayer", "Oracle", "Prophet" (written by Mike Resnick)
> 
> "Storytelling" (writer/director Todd Solondz)
> 
> "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" (created by Joss Whedon)
> 
> "Crusade" (created by J Michael Straczynski)
> 
> "The Big Bang Theory" (created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady)
> 
> "The Phantom of The Opera" (Andrew Lloyd-Webber, Charles Hart, Richard Stilgoe)
> 
> "NCIS" (Donald Bellisario, Don McGill)
> 
> "What's Opera Doc?" (Loony Tunes Cartoons)
> 
> "Harry Potter" (created by JK Rowling)
> 
> Note – the above is supposed to be a definitive list, however if there are any more references I have missed, let me know and I will add them in. This is entirely possible, since there are some references that I use all the time, and have actually forgotten where they come from.
> 
> Introductory Notes
> 
> This story is set in an alternate world, where Vampires exist, and live in perfect harmony with humans (Mortals), due to two discoveries by a group called The Walsingham Institute. This will all be explained as the story goes on, so don't worry if the plot is confusing at first.
> 
> The lead character – Emily Brown – plays an on line game called "Quo Vadimus", under the name "Rory". Whenever Emily is in the real world, she will be referred to as "Emily", however when she is playing in the virtual world, she will be referred to as "Rory" to avoid confusion between the two worlds. Again – this will become clearer as the story goes on.

According to the official accounts, none of what I am about to tell you is true. More than that – it never happened.

For the past six months, according to official records, I have worked in the Office of Births, Marriages, Deaths and Transformations, a mid-level lackey filing report after report and dealing with the more simple problems that come up.

I certainly haven't been working for Pathway Software, nor have I ... well – I will get to that in due course.

You'd think, given what I managed to achieve, I would be quite put out that my contributions to maintaining The Peace aren't being publicly acknowledged, but the truth is, if they were, then they would have to stop. And while being glorified and worshipped as one of the Elite Few does have its benefits, I would much rather do my work than be praised for it.

However, I feel I also have duty to history – to ensure the kind of work I am doing should never have to be done again, by anyone at any time.

So I give you this, as part of my on-going life story, so that future generations will know the dangers of the past, and hopefully learn how to avoid repeating them in the future.

My name is Emily Brown, and this is the story of my job at Pathway Software.


	2. Emily's First Day

**Emily's First Day**

_Chapter 1 – Surprises, Of Various Sorts_

Emily Brown pulled her car to a stop outside the relatively non-descript building, then looked down at the letter on the passenger seat.

"Dear Miss Brown,

We are pleased to offer you the position of Software Developer at Pathway Software, with a start date of 9th of June, 2011.

When you arrive, report to reception, and you will be taken through your induction package, and shown around the office again.

Congratulations,

Caradoc"

She looked up at the building, then shrugged.

"Here I go" She said to herself, then picked up her rucksack, opened the car door and got out.

Xoxox

"Good morning, and welcome to Pathway Software. How may I help you?" The receptionist beamed at her, making Emily smile back.

"Hi – my name is Emily Brown, and..."

"You are our new starter" The receptionist grinned, standing up "My name is Luna of Derwent, and..." Luna trailed off as Emily took an involuntary step backwards "Miss Brown?"

"Sorry" Emily blushed bright red "I just didn't realise you were a Vampire" She hung her head "Damn it. I knew there are a lot of Vampires in the company, and I thought I had learned to stop being surprised"

"You haven't been round Vampires a lot?" Luna asked sympathetically.

"Hardly any" Emily replied, still blushing "I'm sorry – I really didn't mean to react like that"

"Don't worry about it" Luna smiled "I realise that for people who aren't used to us, we can be a little... surprising" She paused "Would you like a few minutes to recover before we go in to the office?"

"No" Emily shook her head emphatically "If I can't do this without having to prepare myself I'm going to be jumping every five minutes, which I guess wouldn't look good"

"Not all that good, no" Luna flashed her another smile "Just remember – they're more scared of you than you are of them" Emily stared at her in disbelief.

"Really?"

"Well – probably not, no" Luna shrugged "The only other advice I have is picture them naked, but trust me – you really don't want to spend the rest of your time here doing that" She shivered a little, making Emily laugh.

"Thank you" Emily threw her head back "Okay. I think I'm ready to go"

Xoxox

"Emily!" A tall, striking Vampire strode towards her. Taking a deep breath Emily took a step forward.

"David" She smiled politely "It is nice to see you again"

"You too" He shook her hand, then looked around "Andrew, Harold, Arathan and Sophia are waiting in the large conference room. I thought we'd just have a quick review of how Valhalla works, what your duties will be, and then you can have the fun and frolics of wading through all the paperwork you need to sign"

"Okay" Emily nodded, then followed him through a number of desks and offices until they reached a large set of double doors.

"Before we go in, would you like anything to drink?"

"No – thank you" She shook her head.

"And do you have any problems with people drinking The Substitute?" He looked at her carefully.

"I admit, I haven't seen a great deal of it in my life, but from the few occasions, it looks just like cherryade?" David nodded with a smile.

"You haven't been around Vampires a lot?" He asked, hand resting on the door-knob.

"Not many, no" She bit her lip "Is that going to be a problem?"

"I guess we will find out" He replied with a smile "But honesty – we tend to hire from the younger end of the Mortal market, for want of a better phrase, so quite a few new staff come here with little or no exposure to Vampires" He shrugged "They usually either get used to it, or leave on their own"

"You don't fire people?" Emily asked curiously.

"Very rarely" He grinned "I think the last time was about thirty years ago, and that was because she was stealing too much stationary, not for any... cultural reasons"

"Oh" She paused, then smiled "So I can steal a little stationary? As long as I don't get greedy?" David stared at her for a few moments, then threw back his head and laughed.

"I think I'm going to like you, Miss Emily Brown"

Xoxox

"You two met her when she came for interview, didn't you?" Sophia asked Andrew and Arathan as the four of them waited for Emily and David to come in.

"Yes" Andrew replied, and Arathan nodded "She seemed pretty friendly, and remarkably intuitive"

"Almost scarily so" Arathan admitted "Remember the integration bug we had last year? When the diary, project and correspondence modules kept interfering with each other?"

"Do I ever" Sophia smirked "Every nightmare I have – that isn't about public nudity or stakes – involves that code coming to life and eating me" The others laughed "You gave her that?"

"I showed her the problem, and gave her quarter of an hour to investigate it" Andrew nodded "When I came back, she had not only found the method that was causing the problem, but had written out a suggested solution for it"

"Wow" Sophia leaned back in her seat "Did her solution work?"

"Almost perfectly" Arathan nodded with a wide grin "It interfered in the file management module, but since we hadn't given her the code for that, we didn't hold it against her"

"Wow" Sophia said again, then looked at Harold "Tempted to steal her?" Harold gave her a wicked smile.

"Is this where I'm supposed to say 'Of course not – why would I want to steal her when I have such a wonderfully talented star such as you?'?"

"I was hoping for something along those lines, yeah" Sophia pouted "Why? What's your real answer?"

"That if Miss Brown is as good as her reputation suggests, then I think the three of you will make my life, and Andrew's life, a great deal easier"

"Which, of course, is the most important thing" Andrew added with a laugh.

"Of course" Harold nodded in agreement.

"So the question is, is she as good as you think?" Sophia asked, then the four of them turned as the doors to the conference room opened.

"I guess we're going to find out"

Xoxox

"How much do you know about Valhalla already?" Andrew asked when Emily had sat down. David had excused himself to go back to work, saying he wasn't really needed for the meeting.

"Just what I learned during my interview and my tour" She replied "It's an office management suite of software that covers a number of areas – diary management, project management, file management, correspondence and so forth. They are designed to work as part of a suite, but each module can be used on its own" She paused "And that a year or so ago, you released the a web-based version of the system for use in distributed offices and to make it easier to scale" She realised they were all staring at her "I guess I learned more than I thought I did"

"To say the least" Andrew smiled "You're going to be joining the Client team, working on the integration code – the database scripts and library files that allow the modules to work together" He paused "You'll be working with Arathan and me, and in tandem with Sophia, who handles the integration for the web-based system" Emily glanced across at Sophia.

"I don't think we met when you came for your interview" The young Vampire smiled "I'm Sophia of Thexon"

"David's daughter?" Emily asked curiously. Sophia bit her lip, then stared down at the floor without answering.

"It's not something we generally discuss" Harold replied with a quick glance at Sophia, but before he could continue, Sophia shook her head.

"No, Harold, it's okay" She turned to face Emily "I'm guessing you don't know a lot about Vampire culture?"

"Almost nothing – in fact, before I came here, I hadn't met any Vampires at all" Emily admitted. The other four staff stared at her "What?"

"You'd never met a Vampire?" Arathan asked in surprise "How is that possible?"

"I had a..." Emily paused, then smiled "I had a slightly strange up-bringing"

xoxox

_Chapter 2 – Life In Covenstone_

"I grew up in a small town called Covenstone, on the south coast" Emily explained "And while it would be wrong to say that the village was controlled by the local church, it did play a very significant part in our day to day lives" She looked over at Sophia "Needless to say, they were not fond of Vampires, and our town was an entirely Vampire free zone"

"Isn't that illegal?" Sophia asked with a smirk.

"The VLA can talk all they like, but unless they are willing to take action each and every time, then they might as well give up" Emily said, a slightly bitter tone in her voice.

"You disapprove of The Vampire Liaison Authority?" Harold asked in surprise.

"I'm sure they serve some kind of purpose, but from what I've seen, I've got no clue what it is" She replied, then blushed "Sorry – I am supposed to be telling you about me, not subjecting you to political rants" She took a deep breath, then continued.

"As I was saying – the local church had a fairly large sway on our village, dominating nearly every part of our society. My parents were devoted members, and so I was raised in the church, attending every Sunday and Wednesday"

"Sounds fun" Arathan said with a grin.

"To say the least" Emily rolled her eyes "I was bored almost all of the time, and the majority of what the church was trying to teach me seemed to be misguided at best, or down-right wrong" She sighed "To make a long story less long, I went out of my way to rebel against my parents"

"I'm guessing that didn't go down well?"

"At first my parents thought it was just a typical teenage rebellion, so they didn't go out of their way to stop me" Emily shook her head "You can probably guess what happened"

"It only made you want to rebel all the more?" Sophia asked.

"To say the least" Emily smiled sadly at the memories she was reliving "I broke dozens of laws every week, spent more time in the police station than at my job, came home drunk more times than I can remember..." She trailed off "Suffice to say, I wasn't the good little girl my parents wanted me to be" She paused "And I am just remembering that I have a probation period at this job, before you hire me properly, so should I really be telling you all this?"

"That depends" Andrew said with an amused grin "Are you still a party-all-night wild-child?"

"Not so much, no" Emily shook her head "Two events, both around the same time, brought me to my senses, even if it was too late for me to repair my reputation" She took a deep breath "First, a good friend of mine was turned by Vampires after I had taken her out partying. I got Lily so drunk that she could barely stand up, and when the Vampires attacked, she couldn't run away"

"Oh my" Arathan gasped, putting her hand to her mouth.

"The next day I learned her parents had banished her, refusing to let her in the house, and that Lily had run away. I haven't seen her since" She closed her eyes and whispered a silent prayer. A moment later, she opened them "And then, five years ago, while I was still living at home, my parents..." She stopped, then blushed.

"Your parents... what?"

"Well – lets just say that I, and the boy I was with, thought that my parents were going to be out at the prayer meeting a lot longer than they actually were, and that however grown up you might think you are, being found naked by your ultra religious father isn't something you ever get used to" She blushed as the others laughed "My parents threw me out, and told me not to come home until I was willing to behave like a proper woman"

"And the boy?"

"Paul?" Emily shrugged "I haven't seen him since either, although I think his parents were slightly more willing to forgive him than mine were to forgive me" She took a deep breath "Anyway – one of the elders at the church found me a job in a charity store three towns over, and I thought that would be a way to start. But since it was about as boring as actually attending church, I started taking night courses in computer programming – something I had realised I had an aptitude for – and then started applying for jobs" She paused "The first job I got was at a company that wasn't exactly Vampire friendly, so, to bring this rather rambling story back to the point, yes – this is my first time that I will have any real exposure to Vampires"

"Well – we promise not to scare you too much" Sophia said with a grin "And, just so you are not left wondering, I am David's adopted daughter, rather than a daughter in blood. My original name was Sophia of Nemo – it means I have no real Vampire father"

"How..." Emily started, then shut her mouth quickly "I'm sorry – it's none of my business"

"On my last night as a human, I was walking home from a concert in Glasgow when a gang of ten Vampires came out of nowhere" She took a deep breath, then let it out "I don't know which one turned me – they didn't stick around long enough to tell me"

"Oh my god"

"Oh trust me – god had very little to do with it" Sophia laughed dryly "I lay there most of the night, and crawled in to shadow when the sun came up. I spent the next two days hiding, until I finally had to go out and find some of The Substitute" She sighed "I eventually made peace with what I had become – I didn't ask for it and wasn't to blame – and when I started here, David showed me nothing but kindness. A few years ago, he offered to adopt me in to his family, and I accepted" She smiled warmly at Emily "Anyway – now that we have got through the true confessions part of your induction, I think it is probably about time for lunch"

xoxox

_Chapter 3 – Making Friends_

"This will be your desk" Arathan had been showing Emily round the building, finishing up at the office they shared with Sophia "As you can see, you can do what you like with it, as long as it doesn't get in the way" She gestured to her own desk, which was covered with small gonks, a few paperweights and an action figure.

"Kidnapped Amy?" Emily bent down for a closer look "I thought they weren't sold in this country?"

"They aren't" She smiled back at her "My mother picked this up as a special order when she was on holiday. I've only had it two days"

"Wow" Emily grinned "So you're a fan?

"You mean there are people who aren't?" Arathan asked in response "No – wait, I am sure I have heard of people like that, but I thought they were only found in the wilds"

"You know, you think you are funny, but you really aren't" Sophia's voice drifted over from her desk, and Emily and Arathan turned to look at her.

"Not a fan?" Emily asked Arathan, and the young woman shook her head.

"She thinks the science is laughable, the plots are idiotic and the acting is wooden"

"That's putting it mildly" Sophia turned to face the two women "And this series, from what I have learned from Arathan's insane raving, has just got even more ludicrous. All that stuff with the plastic people..." She shook her head "If you must discuss it, keep your voices down and don't try to drag me in to it"

"Yes, River" Arathan smirked as Sophia hurled a stuffed monkey at her.

"I told you not to call me that!" Arathan gave a small laugh.

"River?" Emily asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Haven't you noticed? Arathan gestured at her Vampire colleague "Doesn't she remind you of River Song?" Emily looked over at where Sophia was staring back at them – a look of patient suffering on her face – then looked back.

"Now that you come to mention it..."

"Oh for the love of puppies!" Sophia threw her arms up in the air, then got up and stomped out of the office. Arathan watched her go, then turned to Emily.

"Is it just me, or was that a lot of fun?"

xoxox

Half an hour later, Emily leaned back in her chair, staring at her monitor.

"Something vexes thee?" She jumped, then turned to see Sophia stood over her.

"Wow" Emily exclaimed, blushing again "I'm sorry – I guess the whole stealth thing is true then?" She noticed her reflection in the monitor and sighed "I can't spend my whole time here blushing – I'll never get anything done!" Sophia laughed.

"You'll get used to it after a while" She said kindly "I admit I've never experienced it myself, but I'm told that Mortals who work with Vampires every day get used to the gap they leave in the air" She paused "And I will try to be less stealthy"

"Thank you" Emily grinned at her.

"What were you looking at when I came in?" Sophia asked, pulling her chair up next to Emily's.

"Andrew asked me to go through the diary/project integration code" Emily replied, gesturing at the screen "He phrased it as a code review, but I think he wants to make sure that – after my story this morning – I am actually capable of understanding it"

"Arathan told me about your interview..." Sophia started, but Emily cut her off.

"Fixing code is way easier than writing new stuff" She said with a smile "And, while I don't wish to sound overly critical, the error was quite easy to find when you put all the code together like that" She looked up at Sophia "If I had been working on it originally, I don't think I would have done quite so well"

"I think you underestimate yourself, but I can see why you might be nervous" She glanced at the monitor "What part is confusing you?"

xoxox

"Ready to go home?" Emily looked up from her monitor to find David stood over her.

"I just wanted to finish this section" Emily moved her mouse up to where she was reading.

"It can't wait until tomorrow?" David smiled "I know you want to make a good impression, but honestly? Killing yourself on your first day isn't the way to do it" Emily laughed.

"Okay" She nodded, then, with a few quick clicks, she locked her computer and switched the monitor off "Aren't you leaving?"

"I have a few more things to do" He held out a DVD "This will give you access to the VPN connection, should you need to work from home at any point. The details are all on the DVD, and I took the liberty of sending the encryption setting and passwords to your email account"

"Thank you" She took the DVD "I will set it up tonight" She paused "Who would I talk to if it doesn't' work?"

"Sally or Ella – they were responsible for configuring it initially"

"Cool" She smiled "Is there anything else?"

"Caradoc would like to speak to you – just to welcome you to the company"

"Now?" She asked in surprise.

"If you don't mind" He took a step back and gestured at the door.

"What? Oh – no, sorry. I just didn't realised Caradoc was in the office"

"He came back from the conference early" David smiled again "So – shall we?"

xoxox

"Caradoc, may I present Emily Brown" David gestured for Emily to take a step forward. Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the desk. Sat behind it was a boy who looked around the age of eighteen, and yet somehow he radiated more power and authority than she had ever felt before.

"Miss Brown" His voice came out in a whisper, and yet it was firm and commanding "How have you enjoyed your first day with us?"

"Very well, thank you" She replied calmly.

"And you've settled in well, even given your... inexperience with Vampires?"

"Yes, sir" She nodded, wondering how much he actually knew about her past "Sophia and Arathan have been very welcoming"

"Good, good" Caradoc smiled "As you can probably guess, I am not as young as I once was, so I tend not to get as involved in the day to day operations and management of Pathway as I used to, but if you do have any problems, my door is always open" He looked over her shoulder at the closed door behind her "Well – metaphorically speaking anyway" She gave a soft laugh "Well – I won't keep you any longer. I'm sure you and your young man have a fun evening planned"

"Young man..." She furrowed her brow. Caradoc stared at her for a moment, then shook his head.

"My apologies, Miss Brown – I was under the impression that you had a boyfriend?"

"Not recently, sir, no" She smiled "I've been concentrating more on my career, and it hasn't left a lot of time for... other pursuits"

"I understand" He nodded "Although, I have always believed that while focusing on work is all well and good, you need a more rounded life if you are to be at your best" She opened her mouth to reply, but he held his hand up, stopping her "I am not suggesting you go out and fall n love with the first person that you see. Just that, while devotion to your work is good, don't let it overwhelm your life"

"Of course not, sir" She smiled.

"I'm glad we got that sorted out" He smiled "Anyway – enjoy the rest of your evening, Miss Brown"

"Yes, sir – thank you"

xoxox

"I think he likes you" David said as they walked out of the office together, heading towards her car.

"Really?" She looked at him sceptically.

"I've never heard him try to give out love advice before now" David said with a grin "At least, not to a Mortal"

"Are there are a lot of single Mortals at Pathway?"

"Well – now you come to mention it, no" David laughed, then they both stopped as they reached her car "Anyway – have a nice evening, and I will see you tomorrow"

"Good night" Emily gave a little wave, then climbed in to her car.

Xoxox

_Chapter 4 – Where We Go_

"HI honey, I'm home" Emily called out as she closed her front door behind her, then she laughed "You know – some day, someone's going to answer me, and I'm going to get the shock of my life" She sighed, then walked in to her living room, dropping her rucksack next to her computer.

Turning her computer on, she went in to the kitchen while it booted up, then sat down in front of the monitor.

"Twelve emails" She scanned down the list "I may already have won twenty thousand pounds? I can make my beard fuller and richer? The long lost heir of the Mongolian Crown wants to give me his fortune?" She smiled "I really have to get a better class of spam filter – usually it's only Romanian Monarchs that get through" She flicked through the rest of the emails until she found the VPN details David had sent her earlier.

"Okay – let's see what we've got" She reached down in to her rucksack and pulled the DVD out, then slipped it in to the computer "Two cipher keys and a password" She shook her head "I know Valhalla is popular, but this seems a little like overkill" She paused, then shrugged "Well – here we go"

Xoxox

Half an hour later, she stared at the screen with a slightly amused smile.

"I have to admit, I was expecting better" She scrolled through the install log, then she carefully shut the VPN program down "Anyway – time to see what Amy is up to" She moved the mouse across to the icon at the centre of the desktop, and double clicked on it.

Xoxox

"Hello, Rory" Emily's avatar appeared in the centre of her virtual house, and she turned to see her housemate smiling at her.

"Amy" She nodded politely "Sorry I'm late – I started my new job today, and I had to install some software on my computer before I could come here"

"No worries" Amy waved her hand dismissively "I've only just got here myself – diesel spill on the M6, traffic backed up five miles in each direction"

"Oh dear" Rory shook her head sympathetically "So – are you ready for a night out? Isn't tonight Quiz Night at The Leadworth Arms?"

"It is. The quiz tonight is based on the fifth series, so I think we should be in with a chance" Amy grinned "Shall we?"

Xoxox

"Amy! Rory!" The barman waved as the two girls walked in to the pub.

"Darthon!" Rory waved back, then the two took their usual seats by jukebox.

"Do you want something to drink?" She asked.

"The usual" Amy nodded.

"Okay" Rory bounded to her feet, then skipped over to the bar "Hey Darthon – two of the usual please"

"Coming right up, Rory" Darthon pulled two bottles out from under the counter and poured them in to two glasses "There you go"

"Thanks" Rory smiled "How's business?"

"So , but I think tonight should pick it up" He smiled back at her "I take it you two are entering the quiz?"

"But of course" Rory pretended to look shocked "A quiz all about the fifth series? The introduction of the best couple ever to grace our screens? Why wouldn't we?"

"Okay – okay, just asking" Darthon grinned "We should be starting in about half an hour"

"Cool" She picked up the glasses and went back to their table.

"Thanks, Rors" As Amy picked up the glass, Emily looked at her in amusement "Too much, huh?"

"Maybe a little" Rory smirked and sat down next to her.

"So – how was your first day at work?" Amy asked, taking a drink.

"Oh – you know, the usual. Zombie attack, werewolf rampage, demon attack"

"You too?" They both laughed "So – you think you'll like it?"

"I think it has potential" Rory nodded "I'm sharing an office with two women – well, one woman and a Vampire. Who doesn't like Doctor Who, apparently"

"How can anyone not like Doctor Who?" Amy asked, sounding appalled.

"That's what Arathan and I said" Rory replied with a laugh "Arathan is the Mortal woman, who does like Doctor Who by the way, and the Vampire is named Sophia of Thexon – adopted daughter of one of the senior staff"

"Adopted?"

"A long story, and one that I don't think is mine to tell" Rory shook her head "But, aside from her obvious personality flaw, I think we should get on okay. She seems friendly enough"

"Nice to know" Amy grinned "So do you think River is going to be found?"

"I have to admit, I just don't know yet" Rory sighed "I mean – he's only just started looking, so it might be a while yet"

"True" Amy nodded thoughtfully "Anyway – looks like Darthon is coming round with the quiz sheets" She glanced at the table "Do you want me to get another drink before the quiz starts?"

"No – I'm fine" Rory took another sip of her drink "Just curious about what kind of questions Darthon will come up with – if it will actually be a test"

"Cocky, aren't we?"

"I just don't want to be accused of underestimating myself" Rory smirked, then they both looked up as Darthon dropped a quiz sheet on their table "Thanks, D"

"I live to serve" The barman grinned, then walked off to the next table. Rory looked down at the sheet.

"Thirty questions – should be okay" She smiled.

"Ladies and Gentlemen and variations there of" Darthon's voice echoed through the pub "Welcome to the quiz night at The Leadworth Arms" There were a few cheers "And since I am sure that you are all raring to go, here's the first question..."

Xoxox

Two hours later, Rory and Amy flumped down on the sofa in their front room.

"Well – I guess it's time to leave" Rory looked over at Amy "I will see you later, Amy – sleep well"

"You too" Amy nodded, then she faded in to nothing and vanished. Rory grinned, then...

Xoxox

She shut the program down, and turned her monitor off.

"I can't believe I got the question about the Pandorica wrong! What is up with me!" She shook her head in disgust, then glanced at her watch "I suppose I should be getting to bed" She sighed "This working every day thing is hard!"

Xoxox

** INTERLUDE – The Walsingham Institute **

_(taken from "A History Of The Coven and The Evelings – A Personal View" by Althea of Hayward)_

While it can not be denied that Vampire and Mortal relations were steadily getting better at the turn of the last century, the biggest turning point came at the end of the First World War.

The Great War had been catastrophically bad for both sides – hundreds of thousands died in both Worlds, and by the time the Armistice was signed there was very little appetite for violence on either side – both worlds just wanted to heal their wounds in peace without interference from the other.

Most historians agree that it was these circumstances that made it possible for Fiona Harrison and her team to bring about the creation of The Compact and the formation of The Coven and The Evelings.

_Waslingham Laboratories_

For the last two years of The Great War, The Walsingham Institute in Cardiff had been working on ways to heal Vampires that had been injured in the fighting. Thousands of Vampires were dying on the front lines, simply because no one knew how to heal their wounds.

They made a few discoveries before the Armistice, but their biggest breakthrough came when they developed a perfect synthetic replacement for human blood.

Before then, all the previous attempts had been rejected by Vampires for various reasons – either they didn't smell right, or taste right, or – the biggest complaint – they lacked the "spark" that real human blood had.

However "The Substitute" (the name given to the new compound Fiona and her team produced) was tested on a thousands different Vampires, and not one of them could tell the difference.

Fiona announced their discovery on the 11th of December, 1918, and then – much to the surprise of the entire world – also announced she would be giving away the formula to anyone who wanted it, free of charge. When asked why, she explained that if this was to be the discovery that brought about a lasting peace between the two worlds, it had to be available to everyone, regardless of their station in life. That if only the rich could afford it, then the poor would be forced to continue the cycle of violence.

Initially she was branded a fool and a dreamer, but her point was proved as – within six months – Vampire attacks on Mortals dropped by ninety percent.

A year after her first announcement, Fiona returned to the world stage with another discovery she was going to give away - The Walsingham SunBlock Pill. A small tablet, half the size of an M&M, would provide a Vampire with twelve hours of protection against direct sunlight.

Once again, the world went mad over her discovery. Even though The Substitute had changed the life of the Vampire Nation for the better, Vampires were still generally considered second class citizens because they could not come out during the day. They were unable to compete for most jobs because they could only work at night.

But this one little pill changed everything, and – when it was given away for free in every chemist, pharmacy and supermarket – it ensured that the two worlds would now be able to work together on an equal footing.

_The Compact_

Once the two nations settled down and began to work together, the governments of The Vampires and The Mortals got together to work out how the new, unified world would work.

Five years after Fiona announced The Substitute to the world, The UK signed up to "The Compact" - the first country to do so, but not the last. With an aim to providing a lasting peace, The Compact set down the rules and regulations by which both Vampires and Mortals would abide, covering everything from consensual feeding to when a Mortal can kill a Vapmire.

It also created two agencies – The Vampire Liaison Agency (run by Mortals, regulating Mortal interaction with Vampires) and The Mortal Liaison Agency (run by Vampires, regulating how Vampires interacted with Mortals).

Despite a few dissenters, mostly Mortal, the overwhelming majority of both worlds accepted the new world order, and endeavoured to make it work.

And – aside from the period between 1939 and 1945, when peace was put on the back burner right across the globe – The Compact has fulfilled its purpose. - eighty five years of unprecedented peace between the two worlds.


	3. Past And Present

**Past and Present**

_Chapter 1 – Two Months Later_

"Good morning my fellow minions" Emily bounded in to the office, then flung the cap she was wearing at the coat stand in the corner. It flew over the top of it, and smacked in to the wall.

"You've done that every day since you started" Sophia said with a slight smile "And every single day you've missed"

"Like you could do better" Emily smirked. Sophia gave her a contemplative glance, then stood up, walked over to the wall and picked up the hat.

"Oh dear" Arathan shook her head in amusement "You still have much to learn, my young padawan" Sophia walked over to the door, then turned.

"Ready?" She asked, and Emily nodded while Arathan smirked. With one look at the coat stand, Sophia drew her arm back, then threw Emily's hat across the room. Less than a second later, it landed on one of the hooks, swung back and forth for a moment, then fell still.

"Wow" Emily looked back at Sophia "Where did you learn to do that?"

"I've never done it before" Sophia grinned. Emily looked at her in disbelief.

"Vampire skills, Em" Arathan said with a slight grin "Perfect aim, perfect balance and an ability to perceive time at a much faster rate than we mere mortals"

"Is that why there are no mixed Vampire/Mortal cricket leagues?"

"Pretty much" Sophia nodded, then – with a slight smirk – added "Plus we find cricket to be deathly dull"

"Blasphemy!" Emily cried, picking up one of the stuffed toys on her desk.

"You've just seen me throw a hat across the room" Sophia stared at her, head tilted to one side "Do you really want to get in to a stuffed-toy war with me?" Emily glanced at the toy in her hand, then lowered it back to the desk.

"So Vampires are faster, stronger, have better reflexes and can whip our asses most sports" She said as she sat down and flicked her computer on "Is there anything you can't do?"

"I don't tan well" Sophia laughed "Plus I have no mirrors in my house, since we don't cast reflections"

"Well – that sucks" Emily said with a sympathetic smile "Personally I couldn't see myself living in a house without mirrors" She paused, then let out a long sigh "Oh come on – that was a classic joke!" When there was still no response, she rolled her eyes "I'm working with philistines!"

xoxox

"Well – that's just wrong" Arathan looked round as Emily stared at the screen in surprise.

"You forgot Let's Kill Hitler was on this weekend, and have made plans to go out on the town with your latest boy-toy?" She asked with a wicked grin.

"No" Emily shook her head "Well – yes, but that's not what I was talking about" She sighed "I have to go talk to Ella" She stood up, but stopped when Arathan shook her head.

"David, Ella and Sally left this morning for a meeting in Glasgow" She said apologetically "They won't be back until lunch time tomorrow"

"That's pretty short notice" Emily replied "What kind of meeting?" Arathan shrugged.

"Generally they are either meetings with important clients, or occasionally important support calls" She paused "Which would explain why Ella and Sally went with him . They don't normally leave the office" She glanced at Emily's monitor "Can I help?"

"Probably not, sorry" Emily shook her head "There's something buried in the correspondence module that is screwing up the integration between the file management and diary modules" Arathan looked at her curiously.

"How..." She started, then trailed off "If you knew how, you probably wouldn't need to talk to Sally and Ella, right?" Emily nodded "Okay then" She looked at her watch "Fancy going to lunch?"

"Okay" Emily nodded again, then they both looked round as Sophia came back in "We were going to lunch – do you want to come?"

"Thank you, but I have plans" Sophia sat down at her desk. Emily and Arathan watched her for a moment, then they both turned and walked out of the office.

Xoxox

Later that afternoon, Andrew called the three women in to the conference room.

"David phoned about ten minutes ago" He said, pacing back and forth "They've fixed the problem that GSI were having – it was a configuration issue on the server, rather than anything to do with the code – and Michael and Bradley are happy again"

"Wooo" Arathan threw her arms up, then stopped as she realised the others were staring at her "Sorry – just thought it was good news"

"It is" Andrew laughed "However, they are going to stay one more night, and use the opportunity to pay a visit to Dravax Corp tomorrow morning" Sophia smirked "Something to say, Miss Thexon?"

"I was just wondering if their plan to stay another night had anything to do with tomorrow being the preview day for Collectormania?" Andrew grinned.

"I was going to ask David that, but I thought better of it" He admitted "But I know how your father, and your sisters, like their conventions" Emily turned to Sophia.

"So it's not your entire family that is insane, just you?"

"Pretty much" Sophia nodded "Though I look at it that I'm the only one who is sane, and they are all a bit loopy" Emily laughed.

"i sometimes feel the same way" She smiled, then looked back at Andrew "Sorry – you were saying something about Dravax Corp?" She paused "Who are Dravax Corp again?"

"They provide hardware support for us in Scotland" Arathan replied before Andrew could "Someone – generally David or Caradoc – visits them every so often, just to show the flag"

"We have a flag?" Emily said with a smirk, causing Sophia and Arathon to laugh.

"Okay – I think we're done here" Andrew shook his head in amusement "I just wanted to let you know where things stand, and that – despite the fact it was short notice, there isn't much to worry about" He paused "Oh – Emily, I will be sending you a copy of the new spec this afternoon. If you could review it and let me know what you think by tomorrow?"

"Of course"

xoxox

"What does TBEBT mean, exactly?" Emily stared at the bottom of the email from Andrew.

"Sorry?" Sophia span her chair round.

"Andrew's signature" Emily waved at the screen "It's suddenly got this extra line at the bottom"

"Oh" Sophia shrugged "I think that, at the meeting on Monday, they agreed a new slogan for the company"

"TBETB?" Emily leaned back in her chair, looking thoughtful "The best endeavours trump badness? The brave eat the bold? The beauties envy the brains?" She paused, then smirked "Ten bloody elephants try bellydancing?"

"To Bring Excellence to Business" Sophia laughed "Although I think if they'd known about the elephants..."

"I'll put it on the agenda for their next meeting" Emily grinned back at her, then she turned back to the email and downloaded the specification document "Oh joy – twenty pages"

"Andrew does like to write" Sophia smiled, turning back to her own computer. Emily grinned, then printed off the specification and settled in for a long afternoon of reading.

"This should be fun"

Xoxox

_Chapter 2 – The Morning News_

"Hippo!" Emily sat bolt upright in bed, looking around in surprise "Where's the hippo?" She said to herself, then blinked a few times "I have got to stop eating cheesecake just before I go to bed" She threw her covers back, got slowly out of bed and walked over to the bathroom.

Xoxo

Twenty minutes later, she walked in to her kitchen, flicked the television on and pulled the cupboard open.

"What to have today?" She said to herself as the news droned on in the background "Cereal? No. Porridge? Ewww. Toast!" She opened the bread bin and pulled out the loaf, then stopped as something caught her attention.

She span round, and turned the volume up on the small portable.

"Reports are coming in of a massive fire in a small town to the north east of Glasgow" A map flashed up on the screen "Last night in the small town of Twechar, a joyous gathering turned suddenly deadly when fire engulfed the village hall"

"Oh goddess" Emily whispered.

"While hard facts are difficult to come by, it appears that the monthly PCC meeting was in progress when the tragedy struck, and while the fire brigade responded quickly, it appears there are no survivors" The newsreader continued "Authorities are unclear on what started the fire, but say their investigations are proceeding" He paused "The current death tool stands at an estimated thirty five people, including two teenagers attending their first meeting" Emily turned the tv off, then closed the cupboard after she realised she'd lost her appetite.

Xoxox

"So – you'll come tonight, right?" Arathan looked up as Emily walked into their office.

"Or, as most people say, good morning" Sophia smirked.

"What? Oh – sorry" Arathan blushed "Good morning Emily" They both watched as Emily walked up to her seat and sat down "Emily? Hello?"

"What?" Emily looked round, then blinked a couple of times "Sorry? Did you say something?"

"Well – good morning, mostly" Arathan stared at her, a worried look on her face "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I..." She paused, then shrugged "I didn't sleep well last night – bad dreams" She shook her head, clearing it "What were you saying?"

"We wanted to know if you are coming tonight?" Arathan repeated.

"Tonight?" Emily stared at her in confusion.

"My sisters are taking everyone who wants to go out for a drink tonight" Sophia said calmly "It seems that, after yesterday's meeting, and the prospects for today, they are in the mood to celebrate"

"Oh" Emily stared at her monitor for a moment, then shrugged "Okay, why not"

"Excellent" Arathan grinned. Emily looked at her, an amused expression on her face.

"Why are you so excited about this?" She asked her friend "It's just a night out" Arathan looked back at her thoughtfully, then shrugged.

"You've been here for two months, and we rarely see you outside of work" She smirked "I'm hoping this will be a chance to get to know you better"

"Oh" Emily looked over at Sophia "How about you?" For a moment, Emily could have sworn a flash of anger came over the Vampire's face, but it came and went so quickly she couldn't be sure.

"Alas, I have other commitments this evening" Sophia replied calmly "But I admit – passing up the chance to learn more about you is a hard thing to do"

"Oh god" Emily rolled her eyes "Can I change my mind?" Arathan and Sophia exchanged glances, then both turned back to face her.

"No" They said in unison.

Xoxox

"Quittin' time! Quittin' time at Tara!" Ella burst in to the office in a blaze of motion "I know that my beloved sister is probably not going to come – you've never been much of a party person, have you Soph?"

"I like parties" Sophia replied calmly "I just have other plans tonight"

"This mysterious boyfriend we keep hearing about?" Ella asked with a smirk "Why not invite him along?"

"Because William and I have other plans" Sophia smirked "Do you really want to know what your sister is going to be doing later tonight?" Ella stared at her then turned back to the other two.

"So – are you two coming?"

Xoxox

"The Harrison" Emily looked up at the sign above the pub "After Fiona?"

"Yup" Sally nodded. In the end, Ella had rounded up six more people, and the nine of them had walked the short distance down the road to their destination.

"So it's a mixed pub? One that serves Vampires too?"

"Yup" Sally nodded again "Do you think you'll be able to deal with it?" Emily looked at the four Vampires in the group, then smiled.

"I guess we'll find out" She shook her head "I've had two months to get used to being around Vampires – you'd think you'd cut me some slack" Sally laughed.

"Well – if you don't run out of here screaming before the end of the night, then I think you'll be alright"

Xoxox

"So – we can do this one of two ways" Twenty minutes later the nine staff were sat round a large table. Emily looked over at Arathan with a distrusting expression.

"Do what?"

"Well – we can either spend the entire evening asking you questions about your life, or we can have a quick game of twenty questions now, and once it's over, we'll leave you alone" Arathan wiggled her eyebrows suggestively "So – do you like it slow and long, or short and fast?" Emily smirked.

"Short and fast, every time" She said with a laugh.

"Okay then" Arathan looked around the table "Who wants to go first?"

Xoxox

_Chapter 3 - Q &A_

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Ella asked. Emily had been talking about herself for nearly an hour and a half, and had hoped that the rest of the staff were running out of questions.

"Is the entire company obsessed with my sex life?" She rolled her eyes "On my first day, Caradoc suggested I should find myself a cuddle-bunny to settle down with" There were a few surprised looks "Well – I might be paraphrasing that slightly"

"I should hope so" Sally shook her head in amusement "Because the idea of Caradoc using a phrase like cuddle-bunny... that's just too disturbing to contemplate"

"But, to answer your questions, no – I haven't got a boyfriend at the moment"

"What about..." Arathan screwed up her brows "That guy? Paul I think his name was?"

"Who's Paul?" Ian asked. Emily blushed.

"She's the guy she was boinking when her parents caught them" Ella said with a smirk. Emily threw her napkin at her.

"We were NOT boinking!" She insisted. Ella looked at her with a disbelieving expression "We might have been about to, but that's entirely beside the point"

"Entirely" Ella and Sally nodded in unison.

"And no – I haven't seen him since that night" Emily continued, still slightly read "But we have exchanged a few letters – I got in touch via his parents a few years ago. It seems they were not as... annoyed as mine were"

"Maybe because they weren't the ones who caught you..." Ella started, then – at a glare from Emily – continued "... in flagrante delicto"

"It is possible" Emily smiled "My father still has trouble looking me in the face sometimes" She paused "Is that it?"

"Just one more question?" Arathan raised her hand.

"If you must" Emily sighed.

"You said you'd got in touch with Paul again – what about Lily?" When Emily didn't reply for a few moments, Arathan bit her lip "If you'd rather not..."

"No – no" Emily took a deep breath, then looked up at the others "Lily was my best friend when I was growing up. We were both only children, so we pretended we were sisters" She paused "We planned to go to the same university and find jobs together"

"But something happened?" Ian asked.

"We got our entry results on the same day, and went out for a drink" Emily stared down at the table "Which turned in to quite a few drinks" She sighed "We were walking home from the pub, both pretty drunk, when a gang of Vampires attacked us" She closed her eyes "I ran, and I thought she was running with me, but she was too drunk She took a deep breath then looked up "They bled her dry and turned her, and left her on the street"

"Oh my" Sally exclaimed sadly.

"The worst part was her family turned against her, and The VLA refused to help her because she couldn't identify the Vampires that attacked her. She got none of the support that new borns are supposed to receive – The VLA left it up to her family, a family that wanted nothing to do with her" She clenched her fists then let out a long, slow breath "Sorry – I guess I am still a tad more angry about it than I thought"

"I don't blame you" Ella said coolly.

"But, to answer your question Ara, no – I haven't seen or heard from Lily since. For all I know she might living it up in London, or she might have left the country" She paused, then shrugged "For all I know she might have taken her own life – it wouldn't surprise me, given the way she was treated" Arathan stared at her sympathetically.

"Sorry – I shouldn't have asked"

"No – don't worry about it" Emily leaned forward "The more people learn about how uncaring The VLA can be to Vampires that don't fit inside their well regulated world, the better things will be" She paused, then blushed slightly "Okay – I am done, I will get off my soapbox now" The others laughed "So – any more questions?" She looked around, then grinned when no one spoke "Excellent! And after all that talking, I think I need another drink" Another wave of laughter followed her to the bar.

Xoxox

"Well – as much fun as this evening has been, I think that we might have to call it a night" Ella and Sally stood up "We have support duty tomorrow"

"I thought Vampires didn't get tired" Ian asked with a slight smile.

"Oh – we don't" Sally grinned.

"So why are you leaving now?"

"Because tomorrow starts in around an hour, and we have to get home before then"

"I should be leaving too" Emily said "I didn't sleep well last night and..." She trailed off, blushing slightly, causing Arathan to laugh.

"Part two starts tomorrow night and you want to make sure you're awake?" She asked, and Emily nodded, still blushing "I understand"

"Well then – I will see you all on Monday" She pulled her jacket from the back of her chair and slipped it on "And Sally, Ella, Arathan – enjoy tomorrow night's episode"

"Thank you Emily" Arathan grinned up at her "No doubt we will have much to discuss on Tuesday"

"Tuesday?" Emily stared at her, then nodded "Oh yeah – bank holiday. No work" She shook her head "I must be more tired than I thought" She looked around the table "Good night" The answering calls came back as she walked out of the pub.

Xoxox

"You're late" Emily's avatar appeared in her virtual living room to find Amy stood, hands on hips, with a slightly amused glance.

"The night out took longer than I thought" She flumped down in a chair "Plus they decided tonight was the night to learn all about me, so the first two hours were more or less an entire summary of my life"

"That sounds fun" Amy smirked "So – what did they want to know?"

"Oh – the usual stuff. Where I grew up, how I got in to the business" She paused "They also asked me about my ex-boyfriend..."

"The one who..." Amy trailed off as Rory nodded "That must have been fun"

"Compared to the other big question, it was a river of joy" Rory looked up at her friend "They asked me about Lily" Amy stared at her for a moment, then sat down next to her and pulled her in to a hug.

"How could they..." Amy started angrily.

"They didn't know" Rory interrupted her with a shake of her head "I mean – Arathan and Sophia and the other two knew I had a friend who was turned, but no one – not even them – knew the full details" She sighed "It wasn't fun – going through it – but it did add to my cover as being somewhat anti-VLA"

"So you think the twins will report back? Tell the others?"

"You never know" Rory nodded, letting a slight simile cross her face "Anyway – that's why I was late. Have you been waiting long?"

"Half an hour or so" Amy replied, smiling back.

"In Caldera time or..."

"In real time" Amy smirked as Rory looked remorseful.

"You've been hanging around for two hours? Why didn't you go out for a drink and set an alert or something?"

"Didn't feel like drinking alone" Amy shrugged "Plus I think The Arms has a... well – I found this through the door when I arrived" She held up a piece of paper. Rory took it and looked it over, then her eyes widened when she reached the bottom. She looked up in to Amy's eyes.

"Who are they?" She asked, waving the paper "Who are The Bombi?"

"They are a relatively new group who believe that Vampires should be the dominant culture in our society" Amy replied with a disgusted frown "They think that, because Vampires live longer, they have a better idea of what the world needs and how it can be achieved"

"Like The Circle?"

"Not yet, no" Amy smirked "As much as I hate to praise any Vampire supremacist group, The Bombi are remarkably peaceful, almost pro- Compact compared to the The Cicle"

"But still... they are a supremacist group, so..." Rory trailed off, nodding, then she pointed to the end "TBETB?"

"The Blossom Embraces The Bee" Amy replied "It's a line from a song, all about how the group singing it will rise to claim the glory that is theirs" She nodded at the leaflet "A large number of Vampires use it to suggest that Mortals actually want to be fed from, or even turned and so denying them that right is criminal"

"Huh?"

"The bee – the Vampire – goes from flower to flower, taking what it needs and then leaving. The flower's sole purpose is to provide pollen and so forth for the bee – so much so that you could say that – when the bee comes, the flower embraces it because it gives its life meaning"

"And so Mortals can only have meaning in their life when they become Vampires, or when they are providing food for Vampires" Rory nodded, a surprised look on her face "That's a tad obscure"

"That's the point" Amy grinned "If their slogan was 'we're going to eat you and your going to like it', then it might raise a few more eyebrows"

"I don't know – if I said that..." Rory was interrupted as Amy slapped a hand across her mouth.

"But if you use a slightly obscure phrase from a song that very few people would recognise anyway, then you can get your meaning across to others who think like you do" Rory nodded "And I can remove my hand without you being rude?" Rory smirked but nodded again "Okay then" She lowered her hand "What made you wonder about the phrase?"

"What?" Rory glanced down at the paper then back up again "Oh – well, last week the senior staff got together and decided that our new company motto was going to be 'To Bring Excellence To Business' – I just thought it was a bit of a co-incidence"

"Maybe it's not" Amy smirked "Maybe your company is secretly using this group to spread the message about high quality office software!" Rory stared at her for moment or two, then burst out laughing.

"That is always possible – Caradoc strikes me as the sneaky type" She laughed again "Anyway – if we aren't going to The Arms, what are we going to do?"

"Well – I have a few ideas" Amy gave her wicked smile "For a start – would you care to join me in my bedroom?"

xoxox

Two hours later, Rory pushed herself up from the bed and looked at Amy.

"That was..." She paused, grasping for the right word "Fantastic. Where did you learn to do that?"

"Mostly from my mother, before I left home" Amy admitted "But I've honed my skill since then – mostly with younger audiences" She glance down at the book she'd been reading stories from for the previous two hours "I sometimes read at the local library, and if you aren't keeping the little ones entertained, they soon let you know about it"

"Well – you are very talented" Rory grinned, then tilted her head to one side "Where do you get the voices from? I mean – I know that some of them are obvious, but the voice for Penelope – it made me feel like I was right there"

"I don't know" Amy shrugged "Usually I read the story through first, and get an idea of the characters, and then the voice just pops out of that" She paused "Although I admit I am very proud of Penny!

"So you should be!" Rory paused, then sighed "Anyway – I should probably be going. I had bad dreams last night, and I want to get up early to finish the letter to mum tomorrow" She stood up "Thank you – I haven't had that much fun in a long while, and that much fun in bed – almost never"

"I'm glad I could be of service" Amy put down the book down on the bedside table, then turned back to face her "You'll be around for the show tomorrow?"

"Of course" Rory beamed "As if I would miss that!"

"Just checking" Amy gave her a fond grin, then turned on the spot and vanished.

"Gah! I hate it when she does that!" Rory shook her head with a smirk, then turned on the spot and vanished as well.

Xoxox

_Chapter 4 – Letters Home_

"love always, your daughter" Emily put her pen down, then folded the letter in two and slipped it in to an envelope. Looking at the clock on the wall, she picked up the letter to her mother and the one to Paul she had finished earlier and slipped them in to her back pocket.

Xoxox

"She's coming" The figure on the roof glanced at her companion, then back down at the road "The letter?"

"Back pocket" Came the reply "But there are two"

"Two?"

"Two" There was a slight pause "Are we going to take both?"

"I think we have to – otherwise it would look too obvious" The figure gave a smile "Wait until she crosses to the alley behind the market, then we take her"

"Of course"

xoxox

Emily pressed the call button on the pedestrian crossing, then leaned against the pole.

"In sleep he sang to me... in dreams he came" She looked around, smiling at the girls playing hopscotch down the road.

"That voice which calls to me, and speaks my name" The crossing started beeping, so she stood up straight, and crossed the street, giving a polite wave to the car that had stopped.

"And do I dream again? For now I find..." She walked along the front of the market and then turned down the side street.

Xoxox

" _The_ _phantom_ _of_ _the_ _opera_ _is_ _there..._ _"_ The watching figures smiled in unison as Emily walked down the alley beneath them.

"One more second..."

xoxox

** Interlude – The Circle Of Ixion **

_(taken from "The Circle Of Ixion – Terrorists Or Heroes?" by Julius of Throme)_

The years following World War Two were dark times for The Coven. Accusations of collusion with The Third Reich were rife, the most often repeated that Vampires served in the concentration camps in great numbers. Unlike the Mortal guards, Vampire guards would need no sleep and could keep order twenty four hours a day. In addition, a large number of the older Vampire guards were very adept at torture – knowing the right way to torture a Mortal for days before allowing them to die.

Even now – fifty years later – the truth behind these accusations is still unclear. Almost all of the camp records were destroyed when the war ended, and while a few of the guards (and the higher-ups in the camps) have been brought to justice, a vast number have escaped, making it hard to determine who was actually there and who wasn't.

But, despite the lack of firm and hard proof, The Vampire Nation was widely condemned for its part in the war, and – as was almost inevitable – a number of Mortals decided they wanted their revenge for the part that Vampires played in the genocide.

The months following the end of the war saw a record number of attacks, and – much to the surprise of both The Coven and The Evelings – a lot of Vampire deaths. The group behind the attacks was well organized and very skilled in what they did – a fact that The Coven was very quick to pick up on.

Six months after the killing began, during which thirty five Vampires were killed, a group calling itself The Circle Of Ixion came to public attention.

Their stated goal was to protect The Coven from these "vicious and unprovoked" attacks, and for the first four or five years of their existence, they carried out their mission very well. Vampire deaths dropped to almost zero, and those that remained where generally down to natural causes (such as Vampires forgetting their WSB Pill) or Vampires ending their own lives.

In addition, The Circle was instrumental in bringing a large number of Mortals to justice for planning and carrying out attacks against Vampires, and thus ensuring the continuing existence of The Compact. And while current events might make it hard to believe, it is not an exaggeration (at least not much of one) to say that The Circle was a major part of the reason The Compact did not fall apart after World War Two.

Which is why The Circle (despite the large number of accusations of terrorism, murder and conspiracy that have surfaced over the last twenty years) still retains the high-standing in the opinions of a lot of people, from both worlds.

Xoxox

**The Circle Opens**

_Chapter 1 – The VLA_

The police officer stared at Emily with a slightly bored look.

"So – you were attacked by Vampires, were you?" He asked.

"Yes" Emily glared back at him "About an hour ago, two Vampires jumped me and fed off me"

"And this was where?" He made a note on his book.

"In the alley between the market and The Apollo" Emily rolled her eyes "I've told you all this already. What are you going to do about it?"

"Just a moment" He made a few more notes "Can you describe the Vampires?"

"They jumped me from behind and knocked me out" Emily snapped.

"Now now – there's no need to lose your temper young lady" The officer leaned forward "I am trying to help you, but you are not making it very easy"

"I've been attacked, mugged and bled, and you want me to make your life easy?" Emily stood up "Are you going to contact The VLA, or do I have to find someone else to do it for me?"

"Sit down" He stared up at her calmly "I am just trying to ascertain a few details before I get them involved – it generally makes the investigation easier if the local officers do some preparation work first"

"Oh" Emily paused, then slowly sat down again "So what else do you need to know?"

Xoxox

Ten minutes later, the officer – who had given his name as Serlan – put the phone down and looked back at Emily.

"So – The VLA Agent will be here in about an hour. Would you like to wait here, or can you come back?" Emily stared at him for a moment, then stood up.

"I'll come back" She looked around "I think I've had my fill of this place for the minute"

"Very well. Be back in an hour – The VLA are busy, and don't have time to waste"

Xoxox

Emily stomped out of the police station, slamming the door behind her, then stalked off down the road towards the nearest cafe.

Xoxox

Sitting down in front of the first empty terminal, she quickly brought up the virtual world program and logged in.

Xoxox

"Amy? You here?" She called out, but there was no response. She bounded over to the virtual server connection and flicked it on. Scanning the list, she realised Amy hadn't logged in since they last talked.

"Dear A, I might not be around. The attack came sooner than I thought. Trying The VLA, but I don't expect much. Sorry if I miss LKH, but I will talk to you soon. Love, R"

She reread the note, then clicked the Encrypt&Send function, posting it off to her friend's account.

Glancing at her watch, she smiled.

"Here we go"

Xoxox

Looking around the cafe, she quickly ran the log-cleaning program and then stood up.

"Time to get some justice"

xoxox

"Miss Brown – my name is Agent Smith and this is my partner Agent Smith" Emily took the proffered hand and shook it "Officer Serlan filled us in on your complaint and while it is actionable, it is not going to be easy to pursue"

"Because?" Emily stared at them with a dead-pan expression.

"Because you are unable to provide any details of your attackers, Miss Brown" The second Agent Smith said in a polite tone "There are hundreds of Vampires in this area, and we can't just arrest them all"

"So they can attack me and bleed me and then hide in their world?" Emily shouted, then took a deep breath "Tell me – if I were a Vampire and had been attacked by humans, would you be equally willing to write it off?"

"We are not writing this complaint off, Miss Brown, and I resent the suggestion that we care more about Vampires than Mortals" The first Agent Smith glared at her "However, I would also not want to be accused of lying to you or giving you false hope"

"Don't do me any favours" She stood up "I thought The Compact allowed for The VLA to take all necessary action to deal with an attack?"

"And we will" He looked up at her "However we are not allowed to just haul in anyone we see fit without some probable cause – how would you like it if you were dragged down to the station every time a Vampire got smacked by some Mortal?" Emily glared at him, then gestured to the dried blood on the side of her neck.

"Does this look like a smack, Agent Smith?"

"That was the wrong choice of words – I apologise" He paused "If you remember anything else, let us know" He handed her a card "I promise we will do all we can to find who did this, and bring them to justice"

"When all you can is so little, it seems hardly worth the effort" She sneered, then turned and stalked out of the station, once again slamming the door behind her.

Xoxox

Twenty minutes later she pushed her front door open, went inside and slammed it behind her.

As she walked down her hall, entered her front room and sat down on the sofa, the storms behind her eyes faded, and a smile crossed her lips.

"I hope they were watching that, otherwise I put on a good show for nothing" She said to herself, then she gave a short laugh "And I really have to send a note of apology to Teresa for beating up on her agents like that"

xoxox

One shower later, she carefully applied a plaster to her neck, then went back downstairs and flicked on the TV and the laptop.

Xoxox

"Rory!" Amy bounded over to Emily's avatar and flung her arms around her "Are you alright? I got your message"

"I'm fine" Rory nodded "I'd say they took maybe half a pint of blood, and gave me a bruise on the back of my head the size of a melon, but I've had worse"

"I remember" Amy smiled sympathetically.

"They also took the letters to Paul and to mother" Rory frowned "Which I can only assume was the point of the attack"

"Anything in them worth reading?"

"Not really. Mostly talking about work, about the company and so on"

"And Paul?"

"Mostly the same thing, although I did ask when he'd next be in the area for a possible visit" She shrugged "I can't imagine anything worth stealing or hurting me for"

"But they might not have known that" Amy paused "Anyway – I guess the next part will be at work?"

"Pretty much" Rory nodded, then glanced at her watch "It's nearly time" She walked over to the sofa and sat down "So – we're just going to talk?"

"Yeah – and don't worry if you don't say much. I suspect it will be a lot of fun and very distracting"

"Okay then" Rory grinned as Amy sat down next to her.

Xoxox

Looking up from her laptop, Emily switched on the tv in her front room, and smiled as a hideous creature appeared in the middle of the screen.

"SILENCE WILL FALL..."

xoxox

_Chapter 2 – An Ordinary Girl_

"Oh my god what happened?" Arathan jumped to her feet as Emily walked in to the office. Sophia turned round and looked up, her eyes widening slightly.

"I'm fine" Emily rolled her eyes, dropping her bag on to her chair "I just had a little... mishap on Saturday morning"

"You were bitten" Sophia said calmly. Arathan gasped.

"Really?" She started at the plaster on her friend's neck. Emily glared at Sophia with a frown.

"Damn Vampires with their enhanced senses" Sophia merely gazed back at her "Yes – I was bitten on Saturday afternoon while I was walking to the post box"

"Are you okay?" Arathan pulled Emily's chair out and guided her to it.

"Yes – I'm fine" Emily glared at her "It was just a little bite, and I am perfectly fine"

"Did you report it?"

"Yes" Emily nodded "I went to the police, and they reported it to The VLA" She paused, then - under her breath – added "For all the good it will do" Arathan didn't hear her, but given that Sophia suddenly stiffened – Emily thought that the Vampire woman must have.

"You should tell Caradoc, or at least David" Arathan said insistently "They might be able to help"

"It's not necessary" Emily shook her head "And anyway – what are they going to do?"

"Arathan is right" Sophia said quietly. Emily span round to face her.

"Really?" She looked at Sophia curiously "Why?"

"Because if I could tell what happened as soon as you walked through the door, do you really think the twins won't pick it up the moment they see you?"

xoxox

"David? Do you have a moment?" David looked up, then his brow furrowed as Emily walked in to his office.

"What happened?" He stood up "You were bitten?" Emily stared at him for a moment, then sat down in front of his desk.

"No offence, but that is really quite creepy" She shook her head "I told Sophia and Arathan that I was fine but they thought I should tell you I was attacked on Saturday afternoon"

"Oh my" David sat down, looking at her worriedly "Did you see who?"

"No, but given the bite, I am going to take a guess it was at least two Vampires" She replied calmly "I reported it to the police, and The VLA have recorded it, so all is right with the world"

"Really?" David looked at her contemplatively "Did The VLA find the ones that attacked you and punish them?" When Emily didn't reply, David pressed on "Did they at least pretend they were going to try to sort it out?"

"May I be frank?"

"If I can be Sammy" Emily stared at him in confusion for a moment "Yes – you can be frank"

"It seemed like The VLA couldn't care less that I was bitten and almost left for dead" She said sharply "They were almost as uninterested as the police were" She sighed "Maybe if I had been killed they would have cared" David leaned back in his seat.

"May I be equally frank?" He asked, and – when she nodded – he continued "The VLA, and even The MLA, only really care about protecting The Compact, and ensuring the peace continues" He looked at her intently "I know you were joking when you said they would have cared more if you were dead, but I think it's probably true. A dead Mortal is a lot harder to ignore than a living one"

"So you think they won't investigate?"

"If experience is anything to go by, they will do a cursory job, come up empty handed and leave it as an unsolved case" He frowned "You know – if you like – I can ask around"

"You?"

"I might not have the authority of The VLA, but I do have a large number of friends in both communities, and could probably find out what you want to know" She looked at him thoughtfully for a few moments, then shook her head.

"I wouldn't want to put you to any trouble" She said with a smile "Besides – I didn't lose anything of value, and while being bitten isn't the most fun thing, it's not permanent - I'll heal..." She trailed off, biting her lip.

"What?"

"I was going to say, if I am honest – I wasn't expecting much from The VLA anyway" She continued "When my friend from back home – Lily – was attacked and turned, The VLA did almost nothing to find the ones that did it, despite the fact she was turned against her will" She looked back at him calmly "Maybe you are right"

"I usually am" David gave her an amused smirk "But about what?"

"That The VLA, hell – the whole of The Evelings are pretty much useless. They just want an easy life, and are willing to sacrifice almost anything to get it" She stood up "Thank you for the offer, but I don't think that getting anyone else involved will make anything better, and – given how well it's gone so far – I'd rather just let it die now" She paused "If you'll pardon the phrase, that is"

"If you're sure" David nodded, then watched as she turned and walked out of the office.

A few moments later, a door opened in the wall behind him.

"Well? What did you find?" He turned to find Caradoc looking at him curiously.

"She seems to be quite put out with The VLA, and even the Mortal government" David replied thoughtfully "It's not all our doing – her disenchantment started when her friend was turned and left for dead – but I am sure the attack helped it along"

"And the letters?" David opened his draw and pulled out the two letters taken from Emily.

"The first seems like a pretty normal mother/daughter letter" He said, holding up one of the envelopes "At least, from what I remember it seems pretty normal"

"And the other?"

"A letter to her ex-boyfriend Paul Smith. Pretty much the same as the letter to her mother, but with a few more... interesting passages"

"But nothing we need concern ourselves with?"

"No" David shook his head "From all the evidence and appearances, Miss Brown is a perfectly normal, ordinary girl" Caradoc stared at him for a moment, then smiled.

"Excellent"

xoxox

_Chapter 3 – Ghosts Of The Past_

Emily shut her computer down, then leaned back in her chair.

"Quittin' time" She thought to herself, then reached down to pick up her bag. Turning, she found herself face to face with Ella and Sally "Okay – I am going to start making you guys wear bells" The two Vampires laughed.

"I will suggest it to Father" Ella smirked "We thought we'd walk you home, if that's okay?" Emily rolled her eyes.

"David told you about the attack, didn't he?"

"He might have mentioned it" Sally nodded "And, even though he said you said you were okay, we just wanted to make sure" She paused "Plus we know how scary it can be to get back on the horse, so to speak" Emily looked at them sceptically "What?"

"I can't imagine what you two would have to be scared of" Emily said with a curious look "I mean...no – I pretty much mean that" She blushed "That was going to be a way better sentence originally, sorry" Ella smirked.

"Well – come with us, and we'll tell you the dramatic and exciting story of our lives" Sally held her arm out, and – after a moment – Emily linked her arm with Sally's.

"Then – let's go"

xoxox

"Sally and I were born in 1958, in a small town in Kent" Ella explained as the three of them walked along the road "Our mother, Julia, worked in the local library, while our dad..." She trailed off.

"Our dad was an unemployed drunk who could never get over the fact he wasn't a major general" Sally said flatly "He tried to sign up to fight in the war, but he was told a tiny problem with his heart that prevented him from serving"

"So instead, while all his school-mates went off to serve their country, he was forced to work as a supply clerk for the period of the war" Ella continued "He never really got over that, and it wasn't helped that the town threw a homecoming parade for every one of the returning soldiers and treated them like heroes"

"He lost his job and started drinking and couldn't get another one because of the drinking and his attitude" Sally shook her head.

"That's sad" Emily said softly, but both Sally and Ella shook their heads.

"Before you start feeling too sorry for him, you should know that his way of coping with disappointment was to beat the crap out of anyone who was near him" Sally said in a low, angry voice "He would come home from job interview after job interview, stinking of beer, and take his frustrations out on whoever was convenient"

"Oh my" Emily glanced at Ella, who was looking equally angry.

"When we were fourteen, our mother ran away" Ella said quietly "We never blamed her – three nights before she left, he broke one of her arms and two of her toes, and knocked her unconscious with a chair" She paused "But after she left, our father started using us to satisfy... other frustrations he had"

"Oh my god"

"Oh trust me – god had very little to do with it" Sally laughed bitterly "Two years later, we finally got our freedom. After spending the entire night drinking and using us for his perverted pleasures – he got up and tried to drive to a job interview. He didn't get very far – only as far as the bottom of the river that ran through the town" She smiled "When the police came to tell us he was dead, it was the second happiest day of our lives"

"We were sent to live with our grandparents – our mother's parents – and while they were not exactly a barrel of laughs, they were a lot better than living with our father" Ella paused "Which way now?"

"Sorry?" Emily blinked a few times, confused at the change in conversation.

"If we're walking you home, we have to know which way home is" Ella grinned at her, and Emily laughed.

"Next left, then third right"

"Okay then" They continued walking "Where was I?"

"You had gone to live with your grandparents" Emily prompted.

"Yes – well, we stayed with them for two years, then went to university together" She paused "Three years later – the 21st of May, 1981 – we went with some university friends to a local amusement park" She stopped as a flash of recognition came in to Emily's eyes "You know the date?"

"It was a few years before I was born, but yeah" Emily paused "The Friends bombed the Dalton Towers amusement park in protest at the changes to The Compact. A hundred dead, two hundred injured" She stared at them "You were there?"

"We were nearly at the centre of the blast" Ella nodded "The waltzer carriage we were in was flung over four hundred yards, and it landed in the middle of an inferno"

"How did you..." Emily started, but Sally interrupted.

"We didn't" She said "Both of us were mortally wounded, and would have died later that night, but then David came along, and said that he would be willing to turn us"

"We'd still be dead, but it wouldn't be the end of our lives" Ella finished "Our grandparents left the decision up to us, and they have supported us since then" She grinned "I said that our Mortal father's death was the second happiest day of our lives?"

"Waking up after we were turned was the happiest day" Sally smiled at her sister "And thirty years later, we haven't regretted a single day" They walked along in silence for a few minutes, then Ella turned to Emily.

"So – now we've told you all about our past, can we ask you something we've been wondering about?"

"If you must" Emily looked at them aprehensively. The twins exchanged glances, then Emma grinned.

"You told us that your parents interrupted you and this Paul guy before you..." She trailed off, then made a somewhat rude gesture with her hands. Emily blushed.

"Yes" She said quitely, staring down at the pavement.

"So are you still..." Emma started, then trailed off again "I mean – did you and he..."

"No" Emily shook her head "Although we have been exchanging letters, I haven't seen him sinece"

"What about others?" Sally asked, making Emily blush again "Or was that not the first time you and Paul got together?"

"Oh god" Emily stared at the pavenemnt, blushing brightly "Why is everyone so curious about my sex life all of a sudden?" She looked up at them "No – that wasn't the first time Paul and I had got together behind my parents' backs, and yes – other times we were not interrupted" She paused "And yes, he is not the only one I've been with" She glared at them "Happy?"

"Exceptionally" Sally laughed "Was that so hard?"

"Usually, yes, but..." Emily started, then smirked "Oh – that's not what you mean, sorry" The two Vampires laughed "Why are you so interested anyway?"

"We've been twenty one for thirty years" Sally shrugged "We aren't going to get any older, and we'll go on forever" She glanced at her sister, then smirked "We have to find our enjoyment somewhere" Emily laughed.

"I've never thought of it that way" She replied, then, looking down the road, came to a halt "We're here" She pointed to her left "My house"

"Okay" Sally nodded "Well – thank you for the conversation, and we'll see you at work tomorrow"

"Thank you for telling me about some of your history" Emily replied "I guess it explains why you are..." She paused, grasping for the word "Closer to your father than Sophia is"

"We try not to be, but sometimes it just happens" Ella admitted.

"Anyway – see you tomorrow" Emily turned and opened her front gate "Hopefully without any more embarrassing questions"

"Oh no – we've got plenty of those left" Ella laughed as Emily rolled her eyes and vanished up the path.

Xoxox

Pushing the front door open, Emily dropped her bag on the sideboard, then took off her coat.

As she was hanging it up, there was a knock at the door.

"Oh god" Emily sighed, then turned and yanked it open "I lost my virginity when I was sixteen in the back office of the local charity shop"

"Well – thanks for sharing , but since I was there, I kind of already knew that" A young man with dark black hair and blue eyes stared back at her from her front doorstep.

"Paul?" She stared at him in complete confusion "Paul?"

"Hey Emily" Paul gave her a little wave "Long time no see"

xoxox

** Interlude – The DWP **

_(taken from the introduction to "Inside The Most Secret Service" by Alexander Harrison)_

For the past fifty years, the peace between the two worlds has been maintained – the government would have you believe – by The VLA and The MLA and the provisions of The Compact.

However the truth is that, while The Compact and the two Agencies have played their part, the group that has been most responsible for preventing a massive war between the two worlds has done so entirely in secret. A group that doesn't exist, whose members work behind the scenes using any means necessary to punish those who would cross the line.

But what is this group? Who are its members? What does it do and by whose authority?

The author has gained exclusive access to the inner workings of this secret army, and can now present a history of the best kept secret in recent history – The Department of Walsingham Protection.

Fifteen years after the end of the Second World War, The Circle Of Ixion was declared a proscribed organization under The Compact. At the same time, another group – The Friends Of Merlin – was also proscribed.

The then head of The VLA made the announcement, standing side by side with the head of The MLA. Declaring the two groups as terrorist organizations was done, the announcement said, in response to the increasing amount of evidence that suggested both groups were responsible for a large number of unprovoked killings and massacres.

Public response was divided. A large number of people protested about The Circle being proscribed, while support for The Friends was a lot less passionate. General feeling was that The Circle had formed in response to the activities of The Friends, and that they were only looking after the peace that The Friends was trying to disrupt.

However The Evelings and The Coven were intent on their plan, and membership of The Circle and of The Friends became a criminal offence, and members caught committing acts of murder, terrorism or other such crimes would be put to death.

What the announcement did not contain, however, was the means by which these laws would be enforced. And that was because the head of The MLA was not informed. If he had been, it was very probable that The Compact would have ended there and then, regardless of the goodwill shared between the two Agencies.

The then head of The VLA ordered the creation of a top secret department, the sole purpose of which would be to defend The Compact by stopping anyone who would attempt to violate it by any means necessary.

Reporting only to the head of The VLA and The Prime Minister, The Department of Walsingham Protection was given an almost unlimited black budget, and its members were trained in secret.

Put under the control of a man named Eric Rae, The DWP became a shadow-army with the power to hunt down and execute those it believed were a danger to The Compact.

Over the next twenty one years, leading up to the Dalton Towers bombing, The DWP was somewhat direct in its activities. Cells of both groups were rounded up and arrested on a regular basis, along with a large number of suspected members turning up dead.

And their tactics produced unquestionable results – the two groups were forced to go deep underground, scaling back their activities to avoid detection, capture and execution.

It is entirely possible that – if the events of the 21st of May had not taken place – The Circle and The Friends would now both be mere footnotes in history. However, the bombing is a part of history, and The Circle and The Friends are still going strong.


	4. Taking Amy

**Taking Amy**

_Chapter 1 – The Sharing Of Terrible Secrets_

"So you promise you will continue to keep in touch?" Paul asked as Emily walked him to the front door. For the last four hours, they had been talking about old times, about their respective jobs and how things in general were going.

"Hey – I tried to send you a letter" She smiled at him "It's not my fault I got mugged and the letter stolen"

"You always have to have an excuse" He laughed "So – you are certain you don't want to relive that day in the charity shop?"

"Quite certain" She swotted at his arm "You know I am a good girl now, and besides – I am pretty sure our friend would have something to say about it if I did, and you know how mean she can get"

"Oh yes" Paul nodded with a mock shiver "Definitely don't want to cross her" They both laughed as she reached out to open the door "But I can't leave you with a simple good-bye – that seems so rude" He leaned over and, as she pulled the door open, kissed her softly on the lips.

"Well – this is interesting" They both looked round to see Arathan framed in the doorway with an amused smirk on her face. Emily stared at her for a moment, then turned to Paul.

"It was nice to see you again, Mr Smith, but I think you should be going"

"Of course" He smiled at her "Thank you for having me, Miss Brown, and no doubt I will hear from you again" He glanced at Arathan "It was nice to meet you, m'am, if only for a short while" He strolled past her, and vanished in to the night. Arathan watched him until he was out of sight, then turned back to Emily.

"So – that was him? The boy you left town over?" She asked, an inquisitive grin on her face.

"Yes, Ara, that was Paul" Emily nodded with a fond smile "He was in town, and stopped by to say hello"

"Oh yes?" Emily smirked as Arathan wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"We just talked, Ara – nothing more" She laughed as Arathan stared at her incredulously "Yeah – I wouldn't believe me either, but I swear" She held up three fingers "Scout's honour"

"You were a scout?"

"Well – no, not so much" Emily shrugged, making Arathan laugh "But enough of me and my wacky ex-boyfriend problems. What can I do for you at this time of night?" Arathan's smile faded, and she glanced around.

"I was hoping you'd like to come out for a drink with me" She paused "I have something I need to talk to you about" Emily gazed at her for a few moments, then nodded.

"Just let me get my coat"

xoxox

"So – Paul just came back to talk?" Arathan asked as they sat down at a table in the pub.

"Yes" Emily nodded, rolling her eyes "And, by the way, if you could see your way to not mentioning him to the twins or anyone else, I would be most grateful"

"Why?"

"The entire company seems to be somewhat obsessed with my love life" Emily said with a resigned sigh "Ella and Sally walked me home tonight, and questioned me the whole way"

"You too?" Arathan grinned at her.

"Me too?" Emily stared at her "You mean..."

"Pretty much" She nodded, then laughed "I figure it was either a Vampire thing, but more likely a Sally and Ella thing" She paused "You know about their life? Their Mortal life, I mean?"

"They told me a little, yeah" She nodded.

"Well – I think that, because their only experience of Mortal intimacy was at the hands of their father, they are still curious about it" Arathan picked up her drink "And since they can't just walk up to random strangers and ask them about it – at least, not without getting punched or slapped – they talk to the staff at Pathway"

"Makes sense, I suppose" Emily leaned back in her chair "Anyway – you didn't ask me here to discuss Ella and Sally, or my romantic entanglements..."

"Oh – I don't know – your latest entanglement looked kind of cute"

"...so – what do you want?" Arathan took a drink, then leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table.

"I'm resigning from Pathway tomorrow. I'm leaving, and I won't be coming back"

xoxox

_Chapter 2 – The Truth In The Lie_

"You're leaving?" Emily stared at her in disbelief "Why?" Arathan smiled at her.

"You know I was born in Stevenage? And that I grew up there?" Emily nodded "Well – I have been missing it, and my family, for a little while now"

"Oh" Emily leaned back in her chair "I'm sorry – I hadn't noticed" Arathan waved her hand dismissively.

"I've got used to hiding my feelings" She smiled slightly "After you've been working in a company full of Vampires, you'll develop the skill as well"

"I suppose" Emily leaned forward again "But why now? Pathway pay us well, and I thought you were enjoying the current work" Arathan bit her lip, looking slightly hesitant.

"I am, but I have a job offer in Stevenage – it is a good job" She let a smile cross her face "And it will take me home – so I can spend time with my family"

"And?" Emily pressed "There's something else, isn't there?" Arathan paused, then smiled.

"I should've known I couldn't get anything past you" The smile faded "You won't have realised this yet, but sooner or later you will come to the same conclusion I have – that a few others in the company have as well"

"Which is?" For a moment, Emily wondered if Arathan knew the truth about their employers.

"That we're never going to move above where we are" Arathan replied.

"Sorry?" Of all the things Emily thought Arathan was going to say, that was not one of them.

"We work for a company filled with Vampires" Arathan continued "And don't get me wrong – I have no problem with that at all. They are all very nice to work for – I can honestly say I have never had more considerate employers. I can see why hardly anyone ever leaves this company"

"So – what's the problem?"

"That is the problem" Arathan said, raising her voice slightly. She glanced around, then lowered it again "All of the senior positions are occupied by Vampires, which means there will never be any room for promotion. They are never going to grow old and retire, so the other staff will never move up"

"And you want more?"

"Not right away, but someday – yeah" Arathan nodded "I'd like a chance to run my own team, possibly my own project" She looked at Emily intently "The only way that will happen at Pathway is Dead Man's Boots, and I don't want to work at a company where I spend every day wishing my bosses dead" She paused, then smirked "Well – not literally dead, anyway" She gave a short laugh, which Emily did not join in with "Oh come on – that was kind of funny" Emily gave her a weak smile.

"Sorry – I am just wondering what work is going to be like without you there to keep me company" She sighed "Who's going to help me when I get stuck? Who's going to tell me their theory about River and Melody?" She paused "Oh god – am I going to have to make friends with Sophia?" Arathan burst out laughing.

"Oh come on – she's not that bad" She said, still laughing "And..."

"And what?"

"Well – to be honest, I thought you two were already starting to make friends" Arathan said with a smile "You two seem to be getting on pretty well"

"I suppose" Emily shrugged "I hadn't noticed really" She sighed "But still – I'm going to miss you" Arathan smiled back at her.

"I know, and I'm going to miss you too" She finished her drink "But it's just time for me to move on, and that if I don't do it now – if I don't take the plunge and make my escape – I'll be stuck here forever" Emily paused, then nodded.

"I understand" She finished her drink as well "Time for one more?" Arathan looked around, then smiled and nodded.

"One more for the road"

xoxox

An hour later, Arathan watched Emily disappear in to her house, then she turned and walked off down the road.

"I wish I could have told you the truth, Em" She said to herself "But it's better that you don't know what I've learned, otherwise you'd be in danger as well"

xoxox

"I have to admit, it doesn't surprise me" Amy and Rory were sat at a table in The Leadworth Arms "I've heard of a few cases where companies become Vampire only, not because they don't want Mortals but because Mortals don't want to work in a company where there is no possibility for advancement or promotion"

"I suppose" Rory sighed.

"But?" Amy prodded.

"But what?" Rory looked at her, a slight smirk growing on her face "What makes you think there's a but?"

"You have a but face" Amy smiled as Rory laughed.

"Do you have to do that every time?"

"Apparently so, yeah" Amy grinned "But you were going to say?"

"I can understand Ara's motives, but I think there is something else" Rory leaned forward "There is something she's hiding – something she isn't telling me" Amy looked across at her

"Something that might get her killed?" Rory bit her lip, then nodded "So – what are you going to do?"

"I really don't know"

xoxox

_Chapter 3 – Ladies Who Lunch_

"Miss Foster?" Arathan looked round, then let out a sigh. From their desks, Emily and Sophia gave them occasional glances.

"Yes, David?"

"Caradoc would like to talk to you"

"What about?"

About the letter he received this morning – it seems to have given him the impression that you are resigning, effectively immediately, and will not be coming back tomorrow" David stared down at her "He is curious as to why"

"Was the letter not clear?"

"Let's just say he would like to hear it in your own words"

"The letter was my own words" Arathan shook her head.

"I think you know what I mean, Miss Foster" David's voice turned slightly firm "He is waiting for you in his office" Arathan took a deep breath, then stood up.

"Very well" She looked at Emily "I've nearly got the compression code done – could you just look it over?"

"Okay" Emily nodded, and – as Arathan stood up and left the office with David – she moved over and sat in Arathan's chair, and started looking through the code.

"A letter?" Sophia asked. Emily turned on the chair and looked at her colleague.

"It's not exactly my story to tell, but I suppose after today it won't matter" She replied "Ara handed in her resignation this morning. She is taking a job down south, and will be leaving at the end of the day"

"Oh" Sophia frowned "Why?"

"That part definitely isn't mine to tell – sorry" Emily looked at her apologetically. Sophia nodded, then turned back to her monitor.

"Do you think Caradoc will talk her out of it?" She asked, not looking away from her monitor.

"I don't know" Emily admitted "I mean – Arathan seemed pretty sure of it last night, but from what I've seen, Caradoc can be equally convincing when he tries"

"To say the least" Sophia smiled briefly.

They worked in silence for about ten minutes, then Sophia turned back to face her.

"Do you think they'll replace her? Or will it be just us?"

"I don't know" Emily shrugged, then smirked "I'm not quite sure I like the idea of us working together on our own either, if it helps" Sophia laughed.

"As long as we agree on that" She said with a smile "But don't worry – I don't bite"

"That's not what I've heard, sis" The two of them turned to the door as Arathan, accompanied by Ella, came back in. Sophia rolled her eyes.

"One time – you accidentally bite someone one time – and you never hear the end of it" She smiled. Emily gave Sophia an amused glanced, then looked up at Arathan.

"So?" She asked.

"A needle pulling thread?" Arathan replied.

"A deer, a female deer?" Sophia added.

"Long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen , goodbye?" Ella grinned.

"Lunatics!" Emily shook her head "I'm surrounded by lunatics" She looked up at Arathan again "So?" Arathan opened her mouth, but Emily continued "Say anything from the Sound of Music and it will go badly for you" Arathan smirked.

"What about other musical movies set in World War Two?" She asked with a grin, then she continued "Caradoc has convinced me to stay one more month, to see if any issues can be worked out"

"The boss believes that talent like Arathan's isn't one we can let go to waste" Ella smiled "At least – not without making an attempt to keep her with us" She rested her hand on Arathan's shoulder, and Emily noticed the smile on Arathan's face flickered for just an instant, then became just as bright again.

"I'm not saying I will stay, but I think that I owe the company, and Caradoc and David, enough so that I will try to work things out so that I can keep working here" Arathan walked over to her desk, and Emily moved aside to let her sit down.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Emily asked quietly, and Arathan nodded.

"It's what's best" She replied.

Xoxox

"Emily?"

"Yes, Ara?" She turned to see Arathan stood next to her, holding something in her hands.

"I'm just popping out for lunch..."

"Want me to come with you?"

"No – I won't be long. Just going down to the post office to get a sandwich and some crisps" Arathan paused, then held out her hand "I wanted to give you this" Emily glanced down, then looked back up in surprise.

"I can't..." She said quietly, shaking her head.

"Please" Arathan put the Amy Pond action figure on her desk "For the help you gave me last night, and the advice, and for being my friend all this time" Emily looked up in to her eyes, then slowly nodded.

"Thank you" She looked at the figure, dressed in a hospital smock, then back up at Arathan "Enjoy your lunch"

"I will" Arathan nodded, then she turned back to her desk and picked up her bag and coat "I'll be right back"

"I'll be here" Emily smiled warmly. Arathan returned the smile, then turned and walked out of the office, not looking back.

Xoxox

Two hours later, when Sophia came back in from her meeting, Emily was sat looking at the action figure on her desk.

"Where's Arathan?" Sophia asked. Emily turned to face her.

"She's gone" Emily said simply "She left for lunch, and" She picked up the Amy doll, holing it gently "And I don't think she's coming back"

xoxox

** Interlude – A New Beginning **

_(taken from "The DWP : Dalton Towers And Beyond" by Derek of Black)_

While the majority of the public remember the 21st of May, 1981 as one of the darkest days in British history, the most significant outcome of that black day is one that very few people know about – that it lead to a massive restructure of The Department of Walsingham Protection.

In the years leading up to the bombing, The DWP had carried out a large number of arrests and executions of the two terrorist groups, which had the dual effect of forcing the groups underground, and really annoying the high commanders of both The Circle and The Friends.

Three weeks before the bombing, a series of raids across the country lead to the arrest of twenty senior Friends' commanders, and brought the situation to a head. The remaining commanders decided that The DWP had to be brought down – had to be destroyed.

Finding it nearly impossible to infiltrate the secret group, the commanders decided instead to send a message to both The DWP and The Circle – that both groups should leave them alone, or face the consequences.

Their decision to attack a largely civilian target was regrettable, but was justified in their minds by the fact it would save a lot of lives in the long run.

On the evening of the 20th of May, they planted a series of explosives around the supports of various rides in the park, all set on a series of timers.

The next morning, the park opened as usual, and by ten o'clock the crowds were streaming through the gates. It was a bright, sunny, summer day and the park was especially busy – filled with families on holiday, students from the local university and – in a display of staggeringly bad luck – four of the five senior DWP commanders, there for a strategy meeting.

Following the death of the second in command ten years before, the senior DWP agents had started moving their meetings around from one location to another, never visiting the same place twice and always using public places to avoid suspicion.

That day, they picked Dalton Towers because it was going to be busy, and they would easily be able to lose anyone who might be tailing them.

Unfortunately, their meeting took place in the Caslte Cafe, at the foot of the monorail station, which was one of the first places to be hit when – at 11:51am – the timers went off.

The explosions were timed at five minute intervals, along the path that most people would run, ensuring maximum casualties and maximum chaos.

Within ten minutes of the first explosion, emergency services from all over the country were converging on the park. By the time the last explosion had died away, hundreds of ambulances, fire engines and rescue vehicles had been deployed, working to save the lives of those trapped and in peril. But even with all their work, one hundred and seven people died, and two hundred and sixty were injured.

Including the four commanders of The DWP, all of whom died in the initial explosion.

As the tidying up, and the funerals, began, the last remaining commander made the decision to break up The DWP in to a large number of small cells, and to make them all as independent as possible.

Each cell was set up in a large town or city, and charged with keeping the peace in that area, using investigation and infiltration rather than the search and destroy techniques that had been used previously.

The DWP was reborn – a new beginning for a different world. And soon their influence would be felt, right across the country.

Xoxox

**Dividing Lines**

_Chapter 1 – The Package_

"Rory? Are you here?" Amy appeared in the middle of the living room they shared, looking around intently "Are you here and just not answering? Are you here and trapped under a giant fake boulder?" She paused then sighed "Okay – so you're not here" She glanced at her watch, then bounded over to the terminal on the wall "So – you are logged in, and not in the house" She closed the terminal down, then sat down on the sofa.

"The Arms? Maybe. If she'd heard, then she'd want to talk to Darthon" She looked at her watch again "Although she might be down at the docks, watching the tall ships" She smacked her fist in to the sofa "Why didn't The Vadimi implement the magic code when they had the chance? A summoning spell would come in very handy right now" She bounded to her feet "The docks it is"

xoxox

"I thought I might find you here" Rory looked up as Amy sat down next to her on the stone wall that ran round the edge of the wharf "I wanted to come and tell you in person..." She saw the look on her friend's face, and stopped "You know, don't you?"

"Yes" Rory nodded "I saw the story on the news this morning" She leaned over and rest her head on Amy's shoulder "The story said it was a gang hit gone bad? That she was caught in the crossfire?" She looked up at her friend "Is that true?"

"She was found in the middle of the street, body riddled with bullets. The area is a known black spot for gang activity – twelve deaths in the last two months alone" Amy said quietly, still holding Rory round the waist "It is unconfirmed, but there are rumours she had a quantity of drugs in her possession as well"

"No" Rory shook her head "Arathan didn't do drugs – she wouldn't"

"I know" Amy held her hand up calmingly "I am just telling you what is being official reported by the various authorities" Rory looked at her curiously.

"Officially reported?" She asked, and Amy nodded "So there are other reports? Unofficial ones?" Amy nodded again, causing Rory to roll her eyes "And are you going to tell me, or do I have to throw you in to the bay?"

"You wouldn't dare" Amy smirked.

Xoxox

"Okay – so you would dare" Amy towelled her hair dry, glaring at Rory "But couldn't you have done it when I wasn't wearing my favourite outfit?" Rory smirked at her.

"It'll dry" She said "Now – are you going to tell me, or do I have to take more drastic action?" Amy looked at her with an amused grin.

"While I am tempted to find out what is more drastic than throwing me in the bay is, I think I can wait a few days before I do" She finished drying her hair, then walked over and sat down on the bed next to Rory "I've received a copy of a report that suggests the bullet wounds were all post-mortem, and the drugs were planted on her in the morgue"

"And what did this report say killed her?"

"Multiple broken bones, cuts, contusions and..."

"Vampire bites" Amy finished "Everything suggests that Arathan died a brutal and vicious death at the hands of a number of Vampires" She put her arm around Rory's shoulders "I'm sorry sweetie"

xoxox

"If I could have your attention please?" Emily leaned back in her chair, and looked towards the front of the conference room. Caradoc had called a staff meeting first thing, and she was pretty sure she knew what it was going to be about.

"Thank you" Caradoc looked around the room "As you know, our former employee, Arathan Foster, was found dead yesterday. While she did leave three weeks ago under less than perfect circumstances, she did serve this company well for fifteen years, and as a mark of our respect, I have sent a floral tribute for her funeral from Pathway Software" There was a warm round of applause "There is no word about when her funeral will be, but everyone who wishes to go will be granted time off" He glanced over to where Sophia and Emily were sat "At the moment, we have no plans to bring in someone to replace her, since we feel that Emily and Sophia are performing so magnificently" Sophia inclined her head in response, while Emily merely stared back at her boss.

"Finally, a grief counsellor will be made available to anyone who requires it, again at the company's time and expense" He looked around "Are there any questions?"

xoxox

"Are you alright?" Sophia asked as she and Emily arrived back in their office.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Emily gave her a weak smile "I mean – you knew her a lot longer than I did"

"True" Sophia nodded "But it seemed that you and she became friends very quickly, and I know you liked her more than you like me" Emily stared at her, then blushed slightly.

"Only because we had more in common" She admitted, then smiled "I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I didn't like you, Sophia – I never meant to do that"

"No worries" Sophia waved her hand dismissively, then paused "Would you like to go out tonight? For a drink I mean?" Emily smiled.

"Thank you, but I think tonight I just want to go home and curl up on the sofa with a tub of ice-cream and my favourite movie" She replied, then added "The Godfather Part Two, if you are curious" At Sophia's expression, she couldn't help laughing "What?"

"That's the movie you're going to watch to take your mind off your friend's death? A movie all about death and murder?"

"I first watched it ten years ago, and have watched it maybe five or six times a year since then, and I still can't figure out if it's Five Angels or Roth who orders the first attack" Emily smiled "Aside from everything else that is good about it, the plot helps to concentrate my mind and take it off of other things" She paused "Which, you can imagine, would be useful in certain circumstances" Sophia grinned.

"I can see how that could be the case" She agreed, then they both looked round as the door to the office opened and Luna came in, carrying a box "Good morning Luna"

"Morning Sophia" Luna nodded, then turned to Emily "I'm sorry about Arathan, Em – she was a friend"

"Thank you" Emily inclined her head in acknowledgement.

"And I have a package for you" She handed Emily the box "There is a letter attached to it – no return address" She paused "Again – I'm sorry" Before either woman could reply, Luna turned on her heel and left the office. Emily looked down at the box, then pulled the letter from the plastic envelope on the front.

"Who's it from?" Sophia asked. Emily unfolded it, and glanced through it.

_Although we don't know each other that well, I believe that you are the right person to send this to. While I am aware it might put you in danger, I also believe you will know what to do with it, and will be willing to take the risk._

_Do not open this in the office, and do not tell anyone at Pathway who sent it._

_I am asking a lot, but I am trouble and I find myself in need of someone to trust. That person is you, and all I can say is this – ff &c._

_Do what you think is right – in the end, that is all any of us can do_

When she had finished reading, she looked up.

"Sorry – did you say something?"

"I asked who it was from" Sophia repeated. Emily glanced down at the note again, then looked up.

"My mother. She send me a care package every so often" She folded the note up, slipped it in to her pocket then picked up the box and set it down next to her bag.

"You aren't going to open it?" Sophia looked at her curiously. Emily shook her head.

"I'll take it home and open it there" She smiled "I'd only have to repack it if I open it here"

"Okay" Sophia nodded, glancing curiously at the box "Well – at least you'll have something else to do tonight"

"True" Emily smiled "I hadn't thought of that"

xoxox

"Is there any change?"

"No – the authorities are still treating it as a drug-related gang hit"

"Excellent. Make sure it stays like that – I don't want it connected to us"

"Of course" There was a pause "Do you know if she told anyone?"

"She didn't – there wasn't time"

"So we are protected?"

"We are protected"

xoxox

_Chapter 2 – Revelations_

Later that night, Emily sat down at the desk in her study, and looked at the package in front of her.

"Fish fingers and custard, hey?" She said to herself "Well – let's see what we've got" She pulled a knife out of the desk draw, and slowly cut a slit down the side of the box, then gently pried it open.

Picking up a torch, she shone it in to the box and peered inside.

"Well – okay..." She put the torch down and picked up the knife again. She cut the top off the box, and pulled out the various photographs that were resting inside, along with another letter.

_The night before I came to see you, I was doing some basic testing of the integration modules – pulling out sequences of information. My final test was an historic list of Pathway staff around the country, correlated by start and finish dates._

_When I first completed the test, I couldn't believe what I had found. So I ran it again, and got the same results._

_At which point, I decided my future would be best served working somewhere else._

_The rest of the package is made up of photographs I have taken since my departure. Of various members of Pathway staff and others they have met up with. They are at various locations throughout the county._

_I don't know what the connection between the locations is, or what the staff is doing, but I am pretty sure they are up to no good._

_I'd like to be of more help, but I am pretty sure I am being followed. Once I send this package, I am going to try to disappear completely._

_But if I am honest, I think getting this to you will be my last act._

_I realise I am putting a lot of pressure on you, but after watching you for the last few months, I don't think there is anyone better equipped to handle it._

_Take care, and be safe._

"Oh Arathan" Emily sighed "Maybe if I hadn't come..." She paused, then shook her head "No – all it means is this package would have been sent to someone else – someone who isn't as good as I am" She straightened up in her seat, and picked up the list of names. She glanced through it, then went back up to the top of the list and re-read it.

"Oh my" Putting the list back on the desk, she closed her eyes "So many dead..."

Xoxox

"So – was the package from her?" Amy asked as Rory walked in to the kitchen.

"Yes" She nodded, pouring herself a glass of milk.

"And what was in it?" Amy grinned wickedly "I'm guessing it wasn't a lot of saucy pictures?"

"Well – you'd be half wrong" Rory tried to return her grin, but didn't quite succeed.

"Oh yes?"

"The box contained a list of names and a set of photographs with some notes about each of them" Rory let out a long slow breath "The contents of the box cost her her life – she knew she was going to die, and made sure someone would know what she learned – would know what she knew"

"And what is it that she learned?" Amy asked. Rory took a deep breath.

"She learned what we've suspected all along" She said softly "The reason you were sent to Pathway, the reason I got a job there" She leaned back against the kitchen counter "She learned that Pathway is a cover for The Circle"

Xoxox

"How?" Amy asked in surprise "I've been working there for three years and I haven't found any evidence! That's why I asked for you to be assigned as well"

"I know" Rory smiled "But it seems we've been looking in the wrong places"

"Well... that's annoying" Amy sighed "So – what did we miss?"

"The night before she left, she ran a test of one of the core modules, and produced a list of the staff who have left Pathway software in the past five years" Rory said, her voice going quiet "When she got the list out, she learned that every single Mortal member of staff who had left had died within a month" She paused, then added the final detail "Each death – every single one of the thirty four – was caused by at least four Vampires"

"Oh my god" Amy closed her eyes, whispering a near silent prayer. When she opened them again, she looked up at Rory "But that can't be all – I mean, thirty four deaths are suspicious, but on their own, they would provide definitive proof" She paused "Although they would probably give her a reason to leave Pathway like she did"

"That wasn't all she found" Rory continued "It was what prompted her to leave, but – in the three weeks between her departure and death – she started following some of the staff around, taking pictures, making notes"

"And?"

"She has pictures of several of our senior staff meeting with known Circle members and people we've suspected of being in The Circle for a while" Rory smiled "Times, dates, photos – more than enough evidence to confirm most of our suspicions, and to bring a whole new group of suspects to light"

"Enough to act?" Amy asked hopefully, but Rory shook her head.

"While this country, and The Compact has a lot to like about it, the right to free speech and free association means that we can't arrest people just because of who their friends are" She paused "Well – look who I am telling" Amy laughed.

"As Mr Palmer says..." She smiled "So – we need more evidence?"

"Pretty much" Rory nodded "But at least now we know where to look"

"And who to look at" Amy finished, then she sighed "I thought that it might be over by now – that together, we could bring them down in record time" She looked up at Rory again "So that we could finally have that honeymoon we've been talking about"

"I like that idea too, but we agreed – business first, then pleasure" Amy pouted at her "And don't think that will work either – if we try to do something together before we are finished, then there are good odds we'll be seen, caught and killed"

"I know" Amy sighed again "I just want this over with – I want them gone"

"You and me both"

xoxox

Emily shut the computer down and looked at the package on her desk again.

"Okay – I scan the pictures in to the lock-box, then burn them" She stood up, talking to herself "That should keep them safe" She paused "It might prove a problem if it comes to court, but honestly – I don't think that's going to be an issue"

xoxox

_Chapter 3 – The Purple Emerald_

Two weeks later, Emily was folding and stapling a pile of papers when she heard a noise behind her.

"Emily – the twins would like to see you in their office" Emily looked round to find David stood at her shoulder.

"Is it urgent? I have to finish these user manuals before I leave tonight" She replied, gesturing to the documents in front of her.

"No worries – they just want to ask you something before you leave for the night" David smiled "You can finish what you're doing – they won't mind the delay"

"Okay" She turned back to the papers in front of her, and continued to fold and staple them, wondering what Sally and Ella wanted.

Xoxox

"You want to take me out for a drink?" Emily sat on Sally's desk, staring in surprise at the Vampire twins.

"Why is that so surprising?" Ella asked, glancing at her sister "We've all been busy over the past few weeks, and we could do with some fun" She paused "You especially – after Arathan I mean" Emily paused, then smiled.

"I suppose so"

"We're going to The Purple Emerald – it doesn't open for an hour or so, so take your time"

"Okay" Emily pushed her self to her feet, then bounded out of the office.

Xoxox

"You seem happy" Sophia watched Emily skip across the office, pick up her bag and head back towards the door.

"Do I?" She paused, then looked back "Sorry"

"Oh – don't be" Sophia smirked at her "I'm glad to see you getting back to normal" She paused "Still – I am curious as to what caused the change?"

"Your beloved sisters have invited me out for a drink" She couldn't help laughing at the shocked surprise that appeared on Sophia's face "That was my reaction too, but I thought I'd give them a chance" She paused "After all – you are not so bad"

"Why thank you" Sophia grinned.

"Aside from your pathological aversion to sci-fi that is"

"Thank you again" Sophia laughed.

"Anyway – I will see you bright and early tomorrow"

"Not if you're going out with my sisters you won't" Sophia smirked "If you're lucky, you'll be on time, and the odds of you being bright are even less" Emily looked at her curiously "You'll see"

xoxox

"So – how are you doing?" Sally asked as she and Emily sat down at a table in a dark corner of the club.

"Sorry?" Emily looked up at her "I'm sorry – I wasn't listening"

"I was wondering how you've been getting on" Sally repeated "Over the last two weeks – since we found out about Arathan – you've been somewhat quiet and reserved" She held up her hands as Emily started to reply "Not that anyone blames you. We know you were very good friends, and it was a pretty violent and shocking death..." She trailed off at the expression on Emily's face "Sorry – my father is always telling me to think before I speak"

"I'm doing well, thank you" Emily replied quickly "I still miss Ara – work hasn't been the same since she left – and I am a little upset about the lack of proper investigation in to her death, but life goes on" She shrugged "Moping around and being all broody isn't going to bring her back, is it?"

"That's true" Ella came back to the table and set a drink down in front of each of them.

"Exactly" Emily nodded. She took a drink, then made a face "Rum? Really?"

"I thought it was better than vodka" Ella replied. Emily tilted her head to one side, then shrugged.

"I suppose" She drunk the rest of it down.

"Impressive" Sally smiled.

"Thank you" Emily replied, then let out a small burp "Pardon me" Sally and Ella laughed, then, with a glance at each other, Sally turned back to Emily.

"Can I ask you a question?" She asked.

"As long as it's not about my personal life"

"We were just wondering – now that you've been working along side them for nearly three months – what you think of Vampires?" Emily stared at her for a moment, then shrugged.

"To be honest, you seem to be mostly like Mortals" She said calmly "I mean – I know there are some major differences – Sophia's hat-trick brought that home to me in a pretty graphic manner – but all in all, you are not as different as I was raised to believe"

"So you believe your parents were wrong?" Ella looked at her curiously "That Vampires aren't evil?"

"I never thought you were evil" Emily replied in surprise "And, to be honest, I am starting to think that The Vampire Nation, and The Coven especially, are a great deal better at handling things than their Mortal counterparts"

"Really?" Sally rested her head on her hands, looking intently at Emily "In what way?"

"They are more organized, they seem to react better to problems and..." She paused, then glanced around.

"You can speak freely, Em – you're amongst friends" Ella said soothingly. Emily looked at her cautiously, then nodded.

"When I was attacked, The VLA didn't seem to care" She said quietly but forcefully "I was just a number to them. Not even that – a Vampire biting a Mortal didn't even register on their radar"

"They don't have to worry about a non-fatal attack because it doesn't threaten The Compact" Sally said sympathetically "Unless they start happening in large numbers, a single Mortal isn't going to be enough to disrupted the peace between the two nations"

"But I've seen how The MLA respond to attacks on Vampires" Emily pressed her point "They generally give no quarter and hoist the colours high" Ella and Sally stared at her in confusion "So your love of sci-fi doesn't extend to pirate movies then?"

"Apparently not" Ella frowned "But am I to take it that you admire the way The MLA don't stand for even the slightest violation of The Compact?"

"Pretty much, yeah" Emily nodded "The Compact was meant to be a peaceful balance between the two worlds, but The VLA and The Evelings aren't even attempting to maintain any sort of a balance" She shook her head "It's as if they know they are in a weaker position, and are afraid to stand up for what they deserve"

"Perhaps they are worried that if they push it, then The MLA and The Coven will attack, will trigger a civil war" Sally suggested, but Emily shook her head.

"The Coven have far too much sense to let that happen" She said firmly "Mortals outnumber Vampires nearly two thousand to one, and while you might be stronger and quicker, you would loose by sheer weight of numbers, especially if the Mortal governments lined up against you" The Vampire twins both nodded in agreement "But even though they know a civil war is impossible, The VLA and The Evelings don't seem to want to do what they were created to do" She paused "I'm not saying The Coven is perfect, but their method for dealing with problems is far more effective than the Mortal way appears to be" She sighed "Even the way you deal with non-Walsingham criminals seems to be a lot more productive"

"We believe in justice and retribution, and don't have any of the pesky morals that seem to plague the Mortal race" Sally smiled, then – with another glance at her sister – she added "Have you considered joining us?"

"Sorry?"

"The Coven – have you ever considered becoming one of us?"

xoxox

_Chapter 4 – Perfect Possible_

Emily stared at them for a few minutes, looking thoughtful.

"You know – I have to admit, I wasn't expecting that question" She said, tilting her head to one side.

"Well – now we have asked it, what do you think?" Sally leaned forward "Have you never thought about being turned? About becoming a Vampire?"

"Honestly?" Emily paused "I can't say I have"

"Is the idea that impossible?" Ella asked "Is the possibility of being turned so appalling?" Emily shook her head.

"Oh – it's not that" She said quickly.

"Then..."

"I guess it's a combination of two things" Emily continued, biting her lip "You know how I was brought up?" They both nodded "Even though I continually rebelled against my parents, it was within the confines of what I knew. I drank, I smoked, I had... relations with a few of the village boys – but that was all Mortal rebellion. I knew so little of Vampires and of The Vampire Nation that the idea of joining it never even occurred to me"

"Makes sense" Ella nodded.

"And then there's Paul, and the others" Emily smiled "Although I am not entirely innocent, there is still a lot I want to do in life"

"Such as?"

"Fall in love" Emily replied at once, then blushed "Maybe get married, have children – the things that most little girls grow up dreaming about"

"Vampires marry" Sally said with a smile "Vampires can have children"

"After a fashion" Emily stared at the girl across the table "I think I want to do it the Mortal way first" She paused "Maybe later – when I am a little older, and have experienced more of life, I might reconsider the idea" She smiled fondly "Maybe if I were a Vampire, I would be able to find Lily" She paused "Maybe bring her home"

"Hey cutie" Emily frowned, then looked up. Two young men were stood at the edge of the table.

"My name is Emily, not cutie" She replied, then frowned again as the two men laughed.

"We weren't talking to you, Em-er-ly" The one who had spoken originally said in exaggerated tones. He looked at Sally with a slight leer "We were talking to your friends"

"Oh" Emily paused, then shrugged "Okay then" She leaned back in her chair and smiled slightly as Ella and Sally turned to face the guys.

"So – you think we're cute, do you?" Ella asked, giving them a flirty smile.

"Very" The older of the two men said.

"And which one do you prefer?" Sally leaned forward with a similar smile.

"We're not fussy" The younger one said with a grin "After all – you know what they say about identical twins" Ella and Sally exchanged glances, while Emily rolled her eyes.

"No" Sally replied with perfect innocence and guile "What do they say about identical twins?"

"You know" The older of the two leaned forward "That you share... everything" He looked her up and down, while his friend did the same to Ella.

"Well – as tempting as that sounds, we're having a private conversation with our friend" Sally gave him a cute smile "Perhaps if you come back in half an hour..." She left the sentence hanging, and Emily resisted the urge to smirk as the two men both nodded enthusiastically, then turned and walked off together.

"I have to admit – that was impressive" Emily said, leaning forward "Is that a trait of being a Vampire? Because that's something I could get used to"

"We are naturally more charming and seductive" Ella replied with a nod "Though we can't get over any natural factors that might be there"

"Natural factors?" Emily raised her eyebrows curiously.

"Well – we couldn't seduce you, for example, since you don't like girls" Sally replied.

"Well darn" Emily snapped her fingers with a smirk "And what the boys said? About sharing each other?" Both Vampires frowned at her "Okay then... never mind"

"You were saying something about bringing her home?" Ella asked.

"What? Oh – yes" Emily sat up straight "Lily – an old friend from home" She paused "Maybe if I joined The Coven, I would be able to find her. See how she's doing"

"Do you think she'd still remember you?" Sally looked at her, an inquisitive expression on her face "Even after all this time?"

"I'd like to think so" Emily admitted "But maybe you're right – maybe too much time has gone by – maybe she's forgotten her old life completely, and reminding her about it would only cause her heartache" She frowned "After all – they turned their back on her. If they'd done that to me, I don't think I'd want anything to do with them" She paused, then bit her lip, looking sheepish.

"Sorry" She said quietly "We're supposed to be on a fun night out, and I am having a slightly political rant" She took another sip of her drink, then grinned "So – if you aren't going to seduce me – what do you think of Tweedle-Dumb and Tweedle-Dumber?"

Xoxox

"That's her?" The barman looked up as a new customer sat down on one of the stools.

"Pardon me?" He tilted his head to one side.

"TBETB" The customer said quietly, and the barman gave a subtle nod in response.

"Yes" He continued, picking up a glass and wiping it "The girls brought her in about two hours ago, and they've mostly just been sitting and talking"

"Has she gone off on her own? Could she have contacted anyone?"

"No" The barman shook his head emphatically "The one time she went to the loo, Ella went with her"

"You are certain?"

"Yes, Elder"

"Good" The man on the stool paused, then glanced around casually "Anything of interest happen?"

"Two Mortals hit on the girls – they sent them away"

"On Ella and Sally? Not Emily?"

"I am fairly sure, yes"

"Interesting" He looked around again "They should be leaving in about twenty minutes. Make sure nothing happens to them"

"Of course" The barman nodded seriously "When is the next..."

"Two days, at the fifth hall" The man stood up, cutting him off "Make sure you are not followed this time" He glared at the barman "There will be no third chance"

"I understand"

"Make sure you do" He put a five pound note on the bar, then walked off in to the crowd.

Xoxox

"Come on – let's dance!" Ella took hold of Emily's hand and tried to pull her up.

"Oh god – do I have to?" She looked up with a pout.

"What's a night out without dancing?" Ella grinned, but Emily shook her head.

"I think I'm gonna have to go" She said, standing up "While you two might not get tired, I am going to have to go home and put these poor, Mortal bones to bed" Ella and Sally exchanged glances, then shrugged.

"Okay then" Ella picked up her jacket from the back of their chair she'd been occupying all evening "We'll walk you home – make sure nothing stops you from reaching your bed"

"Thank you but..." Emily started, but Sally cut her off.

"We can spend the next ten minutes – the next ten hours arguing – and nothing will change except you'll be ten hours older" Emily laughed.

"Okay then"

Xoxox

_Chapter 5 – The Legend Of Lily_

"You've seriously never seen it?" Emily stared at the two Vampires in surprise as they walked along the street.

"We've seriously never seen it" Ella nodded.

"Kill the wabbit?" She asked "Spear and magic helmet? Oh Brunhilder, you're so wuvwey?" She sighed "And I thought my education was lacking" She paused "You've heard of The Ring Cycle, though?"

"Yes" They both nodded, then Sally continued "Father introduced us to it – he says it is one of his favourite" She looked at Emily curiously "I'm not sure what he would say to a version sung by Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd though"

"But – if you are going to show him it, can you make sure we're there?" Ella added with a laugh.

"I will see if I can set something up at lunch" Emily grinned, then she came to a halt "I can get home from here" She waved at the road leading off to the left, then smirked "You two can go back and find those two nice young men, if you want"

"You know what – I think we might" Ella returned her grin.

"Well – good night then" Emily gave them a small wave, then turned and walked off down the road.

When she had gone half way down, she stopped, bent over and reached for her shoelace. As she did, she glanced behind her, then smiled to see the two Vampires girls had gone back towards the pub.

She jumped to her feet, and, glancing around, started to follow them.

Xoxox

Five minutes later, she reached the corner of the post office, glanced round it and then ducked back quickly.

Xoxox

"Hey – Sam" Toby Finn nudged his friend as Ella and Sally walked back down the road towards them "Looks like we might get lucky after all" Sam Walsh smiled back at him.

"Hey cutie – you came back" Sam strode forward, Toby tagging behind him "Decided you wanted to try us out?"

"Something like that" Ella grinned seductively, then glanced around "We live just round the corner – do you two want to come home with us?" Sam and Toby exchanged excited grins, then looked back at the two Vampire girls.

"You offering what I think you're offering?" Sam asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"Oh yes" Ella nodded, then – with a glance at her sister – added "You might even get the answer to your question, if you're lucky" Sam's eyebrows shot up, and his grin increased exponentially.

"Come on then boys" Sally sacheyed up behind her sister "The night's getting on"

xoxox

Emily watched as Sally and Ella lead the two boys down an alley.

"A dark, secluded alley" She thought, slowly creeping up the street. She made her way across the road, hiding in the bushes opposite the end of the alley.

Xoxox

"So – how far away do you live?" Sam asked as he and Toby followed Sally and Ella through the alley.

"Not far" Sally replied, then stopped and turned "In fact, if you like, we can give you a little preview now"

"Really?" Sam stared at her in disbelief "I mean... really?" She walked up to him, then grabbed him by the front of the jacket and threw him against the wall of the alley. A moment later, Ella did the same to Toby.

"Close your eyes" She whispered. Sam grinned, then slowly closed his eyes. She cast a single glance at her sister, then leaned forward, and pressed her lips against Sam's.

"Mmmmmmm" He moaned. She pulled back "That's..."

"Cold?" She asked, and he nodded "Well – there's a reason for that, lover boy"

"Wha..." Sam started, but before he could finish, she sank her teeth in to his neck.

Xoxox

Emily watched in silence as the two Vampires drained the life out of their victims. Every instinct told her to rush forward – to attack, to kill – but she knew it was already too late.

"Eternal life grant unto them" She whispered sadly, closing her eyes "And may perpetual light shine upon them"

xoxox

"Oh god I have missed that" Ella exclaimed as she let Toby fall to the ground "Don't get me wrong – The Substitute is nice, but nothing beats the rush of the seduction and the kill"

"Tell me about it" Sally let out a long, sensual breath, then glanced down "Do we tidy up? Or..."

"Lets go back to The Emerald – someone there will do it for us" Ella replied with a grin "And you never know – maybe we'll find someone who we actually want to take home with us" Sally laughed, then she and her sister turned and bounded back out the alley towards the club.

Xoxox

"Hey Darthon" Amy walked in to The Leadworth Arms and up to the bar "Have you seen Rory tonight?"

"Not yet, no" He smiled "Are you expecting her?"

"Maybe" Amy smiled, taking a seat on one of the barstools "She went out with some of her... friends from work" She grinned "She wasn't sure when she'd be back"

"She never struck me as the party all night type" Darthon said, putting a glass down in front of her. He held up a bottle, and she nodded.

"It's not her so much as the two people she's with" Amy laughed "The two girls in question were just coming out of their teenage years when they were turned, and while they have grown up a little, they still consider themselves to be party girls, first and foremost"

"And you think they'll turn your friend in to one?"

"They can be quite persuasive" She took a drink "In the meantime, tell me about your day"

"Well – it's a dramatic story, full of brave quests, heroic nights and tales of daring do, but I think it will have to wait" He was staring over her head, at the door to The Arms. Amy turned, then smiled as she saw Rory walking towards them.

"Hey!" She bounded to her feet, then – noticing the expression on her wife's face – she skidded to a halt "What's wrong?" Rory stared at her for a moment, then shook her head.

"Not here" She said quietly. She strode quickly to the bar conferred with Darthon. A few seconds later, she gestured to the door in to the back room. Amy nodded, and followed her through it. Darthon looked around the bar.

"Talon – can you cover for me?" A middle aged Vampire in the corner nodded and got to his feet. Darthon turned and went in to the back room, closing the door behind him.

"Did you find out what you wanted?" He asked, sitting down between the two women.

"Yes" Rory nodded, not looking up from the table "I saw five, maybe ten suspected Circle members at The Purple Emerald, including two of the staff"

"So it is definitely a front?"

"I'm certain of it" Rory sighed, but continued to stare at the table. Amy reached out and slowly tilted her head up.

"What aren't you telling us?" She asked quietly.

"The other rumours we've heard about are true" Rory whispered, not looking either of them in the eye "I..." She started, then trailed off, staring down at the table again.

"Which rumours?" Darthon pressed "Rory – tel..." She stopped when Amy held up her hand, silencing him.

"How many?" She asked quietly. Rory slowly raised her head until she was looking Amy in the eye.

"Two – youngish. The twins set about seducing them in the club, then blew them off" Rory sighed "They walked me home, then went back for them"

"You saw?" Darthon asked.

"I followed them back, and watched as they took the two young men – the two boys – down an alley" She took a deep breath "And then I stood by and did nothing as they ripped their throats out and bled them dry"

"Oh sweetie" Amy took her hand, squeezing it gently. Rory smiled at her, then turned to Darthon.

"I know I did the right thing – that arresting the two of them would have alerted the cell that we were on to them, and the rest of them would have fled" She stared him in the eye "You don't have to lecture me on the greater good"

"The greater good?" Darthon shook his head "I was just going to say I know how hard that must have been for you, and that I am sorry you had to see it" Rory gazed at him, then nodded.

"Sorry" She said with an apologetic smile "I'm just..." She paused "It's just not been a good evening"

"I understand" He sighed "Do you think we can raid The Emerald?"

"No" Rory shook her head "I mean – I know it's an abattoir and that more people might die, but at the moment it is also a good source of information" She glanced at Amy "It seems to be the twins favourite place to go, and if we can put a watch on it we can catch more of the members than if we shut it down now" Darthon looked at Amy as well.

"Amy?"

"Like Rory says – while The Emerald stays open, we can use it against them" Amy nodded.

"Okay then" Darthon nodded "I'll let them know, and set up the surveillance" He looked at the two women, then excused himself and walked back in to the main bar.

"Are you okay?" Amy asked quietly.

"I'm f..."

"If you say I'm fine, I will drop you in to the Maelstrom" Rory snorted in amusement.

"I've been better, sweetie" She said with a soft smile "I've seen a lot of bad things in my life – the night of the wolf, the Carleton raid, the Valley of Blood" She paused "But watching two boys get their throats ripped out while having to stand and do nothing?" She shook her head "Yeah – I've been better"

"Do you want me to come over?" Amy asked quietly. Rory looked at her thoughtfully, then sighed.

"Too much of a risk" She said reluctantly "Don't get me wrong, I can't think of anything else I'd rather do than spend the night in your arms, but if they are watching – if they see you..."

"I know" Amy sighed "Just promise me you'll come back here if you need me – I'll be here all night"

"I promise" Rory nodded, then glanced at her watch "And on the topic of all night..."

"It's late, and you need sleep" Amy stood up, pulling Rory to her feet with her "I mean it – I'll be here"

"I know, and thank you" Rory leaned over and kissed her softly "I'll see you in the morning"

xoxox

Turning the computer off, Emily turned and walked slowly up the stairs.

She changed in to her nightclothes, then laid down on the bed. A few moments later, she rolled on to her side, staring at the large empty space next to her, and let out a long, sad sigh.

"I should have said yes, LL" She closed her eyes "I should have said yes"

xoxox

** Interlude – Emily Brown **

_(taken from "personal history" section of personnel file RTX-3599-10642)_

Emily Mary MacKenzie Brown was born on 26/06/1983 to Tess Andrea Brown ( _cf_ _9723_ ) and Jack Charles Brown ( _cf_ _10101_ ) in the town of Covenstone.

Early indicator tests suggested high levels of hand-eye co-ordination, logical reasoning and general perception skills. In addition, she also rates very highly on the five standard problem solving tests, as well as showing a lot of intuition and invention.

_Tess Brown looked up from the book she was reading to see her three year old daughter dragging a chair through the living room and in to the kitchen._

" _Do you need some help, sweetheart?" She asked._

" _No thank you mummy" Emily replied. Tess smiled, then looked back down at her book, only to look up again a moment later when Emily came through the living room again, this time carrying a pillow._

" _Emily?"_

" _Yes mummy?"_

" _What are you doing?"_

" _Nothing" Emily smiled, then turned and walked off in to the kitchen. Tess narrowed her eyes, then put her book down and walked over to the kitchen door._

_She peered inside, and had to resist the urge to gasp._

_The week before, she and her husband had found Emily sat on the kitchen floor with a big tub of cookies in front of her. After explaining to her daughter that eating too many cookies would make her sick, Tess had put the cookie tub back on a much higher shelf – one she knew that Emily would not be able to reach._

_But from what she saw now, it seemed she had underestimated her daughter's ability, not to mention her persistence._

_Two dining room chairs were set up next to each other, with a flat board – that Tess recognised as the top of Emily's toy chest – laid on top of them._

_On the floor next to the chairs were two pillows and a scrunched up duvet, forming what she had to admit was a pretty well made landing mat._

_Emily herself was holding the blue broom from the kitchen cupboard, and was just about to climb on to the chairs._

" _Sweetheart?"_

" _Yes mummy?"_

" _What are you doing?"_

" _Getting a cookie" The young girl replied, then – as Tess watched with mounting surprise and admiration – she raised the broom up, hooked the bottom of it behind the cookie tub, and began to slowly pull it forward._

_As it reached the edge of the shelf it was on, Emily suddenly gave the broom a quick yank, and the tub flew off the shelf, and landed in the exact centre of the pillow arrangement on the floor._

_Completely oblivious to the look of utter shock on her mother's face, Emily carefully climbed down off the chairs, leaned the broom up against the back of one of them, then bent over and picked up the cookie tub._

" _Would you like one, mummy?" She asked, holding it out._

Initial schooling was conducted at Harrison CP, where she formed a close relationship with Lily Marie Amelia Dixon.

" _Did it come?" Emily and Lily bounded in to the Dixon's front room and scampered up to Lily's mother._

" _In polite society, people generally say hello first" Kim Dixon smiled at the two girls._

" _Hello Aunty Kim"_

" _Hello mummy. Did it come?"_

" _Did what come, dear?" Kim Dixon looked down at the two girls with a blank expression._

" _The book!" Lily asked, her face falling._

" _Which book?" Kim asked, still keeping her expression blank._

" _Oracle!" Lily stamped her foot "Stop teasing me mummy – it's not funny"_

" _Yes it is dear" Kim leaned over and hugged her daughter "Otherwise I wouldn't keep doing it" She stood up, walked over to the sideboard and picked up two packages. Turning back, she handed one to each girl "Your mother popped in, Emmy – she didn't want you to have to wait until you got home"_

" _Thank you Aunty Kim" Emily held the parcel to her chest, while Lily ripped the top off hers and looked inside. A moment later she looked up and smiled._

" _Thank you mummy" She said, then hugged her mother's legs._

" _You are both most welcome. Now – why don't you go and start reading, and I'll call you when tea is ready"_

" _Thank you!" The girls said in unison, then bounded out of the living room. A moment later she heard a loud clattering on the stairs as they rushed up to Lily's play room._

Average marks in most subjects at school, except for English, Maths and Computing, Emily went on to sixth form to study those three subjects. The attached exam results do not reflect the progress she showed, due to an incident during her A-Level year.

" _Emily – could you come in here?" Emily closed the front door behind her, frowning at her mother's tone._

" _I'll be in in a moment, Mum" She called out._

" _Now, please" Tess called out again. Emily blinked in surprise – her mother rarely spoke in such an abrupt tone. Pulling her jacket off, she put her rucksack on the floor and then walked in to the kitchen, only to find Kim and Henry Dixon waiting for her, along with her parents Tess and Jack._

" _Mum? What's wrong?" She asked, sitting down at the table. Tess took a deep breath, then glanced at Kim._

" _Emily – I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but something has happened to Lily"_

" _LL?" Emily glanced worriedly at her parents, then back at Kim "What?" Kim hesitated, then continued._

" _Last night – when Lily was coming home from your house – she was attacked by a group of Vampires"_

" _Oh god" Emily exclaimed, flopping back in her chair "Is she..."_

" _She's not dead" Henry said, resting his hands on Kim's shoulders "I'm afraid it's worse"_

" _Worse?" Emily stared at him "What's worse than dead?" She blinked a few times, then frowned "Do you mean she's been turned?"_

" _Yes" Her mother nodded "Kim and Henry found her in the porch this morning, cowering from the sun" Emily looked back at Lily's parents._

" _So she's alive?"_

" _No!" Kim shook her head vehemently "She's a Vampire – a monster" Emily stared at her, her shock and anger evident._

" _She's your daughter" She yelled, then got to her feet "I want to see her"_

" _You can't" Henry shook his head "She left when the sun went down" Emily turned to glare at him._

" _You threw her out?"_

" _She didn't want to stay"_

" _Well – hardly surprising when her parents think she is a monster!" Emily snapped at him "Did she say where she was going?"_

" _No" Kim shook her head "She took some clothes, some books and a few of her things, then she left"_

" _And you didn't ask?" Emily yelled "No – of course not. Never mind that some one in this town might miss your daughter – might care for her" She flumped down in her chair, then sighed "You've got no idea where she went? Not even a clue"_

" _She didn't tell us" Henry said quietly "And we didn't ask" There were a few minutes of silence, then Tess cleared her throat and turned to Kim._

" _Thank you for coming to tell us, but I think it's time for you to leave" She said politely "I'm sorry for your loss, and if you are planning a memorial service..."_

" _You can't have a memorial for someone who's not dead" Emily said under her breath._

" _...then let us know and we will attend" Tess finished, silencing her daughter with a glance._

" _Of course" Kim got to her feet, then she and Henry left through the back door, while Tess turned to face Emily._

" _Would you care to explain your outburst, daughter of mine?" She asked carefully._

" _LL is in trouble, Mum, and all they seem to care about is what this will look like to the rest of the village" Emily said quietly "They don't seem to care what Lils is going through at all!"_

" _While I might not agree with their actions, or their description of Lily's new... condition, Kim and Henry are still our friends, and you shouldn't talk to them like that while they are in our house" Emily opened her mouth, paused, then sighed._

" _You're right, Mum – I'm sorry" She glanced up at her father "Sorry, Dad – I didn't mean to be so rude to them, it just kind of... happened"_

" _Like your mother said, we understand" Jack smiled fondly at her, then sat down opposite her "Sweetheart..."_

" _She's gone, isn't she?" Emily asked, and Jack nodded "I'm never going to see her again, am I?"_

" _You should never say never, sweetheart" Tess said fondly "But at the same time, I don't want to get your hopes up, love" Emily closed her eyes, then dropped her head in to her hands._

" _Lily" She sighed "I'm going to miss you"_

Emily continued her education, attending Hinson University she gained a joint first in Political Science and Software Development, with special commendation for her dissertation on "The Best Way To Vampire/Mortal Relations".

The years between completing her course at HU and starting work for this agency are the only real black mark on Emily's record. Her spotty employment record was matched by an equally spotty government record – she was frequently caught using the skills she developed at HU to hack in to various local and national databases. This behaviour, while a sign of potential problems, was entirely motivated by a desire to find her friend – the databases she hacked were all related to The Coven and The Vampire nation.

Following discussions with her parents and one of the newer agents, the decision was taken to approach Emily about joining the agency in 2006.

" _Emily – could you come in here?" Emily blinked in surprise as her mother's voice floated out from the kitchen. For a second she flashed back to the night six years before when she had heard her mother say the same thing._

_Hoping that this wasn't going to herald the same sort of news, Emily hung up her coat, then walked slowly in to the kitchen._

" _Hey Mum" Her mother was sat at the kitchen table, facing a youngish women with jet black hair "So – what's so important you had to drag me away from my fun and exciting evening of doing..." She trailed off as the young woman turned round "Lily?"_

" _You were doing me?" Her best friend asked with an amused smirk "Sounds fun"_

Following the reunion with her friend, Tess and Jack Brown, and Lily of Nemo (as she requested to be called) talked to Emily for half an hour about this agency and the job it did to protect The Compact.

" _So I can either continue the relatively safe and easy job I am doing now, or I can spend the next eighteen months trying to survive a living hell – the reward for which will be to risk my life each and every day fighting for people who – past experience has taught me – don't want me to do what I'll be doing?" Emily stared at the three DWP agents who were trying to recruit her. After a moment, Lily nodded._

" _Yeah – that's pretty much the plan" She grinned "So – are you in?" Emily grinned back at her._

" _Yes, LL – I'm in"_


	5. To Greet The Storm

**To Greet The Storm**

_Chapter 1 – This Is His Gallifrey_

"David was looking for you" Emily looked over her shoulder as Sophia walked in to their office "Said he had something important to discuss with you"

"Did he say what?" Emily asked, saving the report she had been working on.

"No" Sophia shook her head, then added "But I know that he and the twins are going on another site visit soon"

"Oh" Emily sat up straight in her chair, an interested expression on her face "Do you think that means I might get to go?"

"Maybe" Sophia nodded "But..."

"But what?"

"The only visit due in the next few days is to Eagle Printing in Calverstone" Sophia sat down at her desk, spinning her chair so she kept facing Emily "It's a fairly high profile customer, and you..." She trailed off, looking slightly sheepish.

"You can say it – it's not like I don't know" Emily smirked "I am fairly new and the odds of them wanting someone senior to talk to an important client are better than average?"

"Pretty much" Sophia nodded "And I know – you've been here a while, but I still think of you as 'the new girl'. Sorry"

"No worries" Emily waved her hand dismissively "I am still the newest member of staff, so unless they hire someone soon, I will still be 'the new girl' as you say" Sophia smiled.

"There's one other thing" She paused, then took a deep breath "David thinks of Calverstone like The Master thinks of Gallifrey"

"That it's stuck in a time lock and if it comes back it will be the end of time?" Emily stared at her in confusion, then a surprised look came over her face "Hold on – you just made a Doctor Who reference"

"Yes" Sophia nodded, looking amused.

"And a pretty sophisticated one at that" Emily added.

"Still yes" Sophia nodded again. Emily stared at her for a moment, then laughed.

"Who are you, and what have you done with the anti-nerd?" She asked, then her mouth fell open in surprise as Sophia actually blushed a light pink.

"Here's the thing – I didn't really like the person who had your job before you. He was smug, arrogant, rarely took the blame for his mistakes and was, in short, a bit of a tosser" She shook her head "How Piggy ever got hired was beyond me"

"Piggy?" Emily raised her eyebrows curiously.

"Well – he was hired from university, and given the job about three months before he could start. None of us could initially remember what he was called, so we picked a nickname for him" She saw Emily frown "Don't worry – we all remembered you – you are somewhat hard to forget" Emily laughed.

"I will choose to take that as a compliment" She smiled "So – Piggy?"

"Well – he was a big Doctor Who fan as well, but..." Sophia paused, trying to think of the right words "Well – you know how you call me the anti-nerd?" Emily nodded "He was definitely the anti-anti-nerd. I mean – I know you and Arathan sometimes got carried away, but trust me – compared to Piggy you and she were like..." She shrugged "Well – me"

"Wow" Emily grinned "So – let me guess – you are secretly a big Doctor fan, but because you didn't like Piggy and didn't want to have to talk to him when it wasn't necessary, you pretended to hate it?"

"Arathan made the mistake of talking about it, and he never let it go" Sophia nodded "I am pretty sure that – if she thought she could've got away with it – she would have used the figure she gave you to stab him to death on numerous occasions"

"So why didn't you say something when he left?" Emily asked, glancing down at the Amy Pond figure that sat under her monitor. When Sophia didn't respond, Emily looked at her slightly more intently "Sophia?"

"I was embarrassed" The Vampire woman admitted "I had been pretending to dislike it for so long, I couldn't work out a way to say I liked it without looking like a fool"

"Oh" Emily tilted her head to one side "I can see the problem, I suppose" She paused "So why now?"

"Because if they do hire someone else, I don't want to be stuck with it another ten or twenty years" Sophia smirked "I figured if I told you now, then if they bring in someone new I wouldn't have to continue to pretend" Emily smiled and nodded.

"So – Calverstone is like Gallifrey?" She asked a few moments later "I'm guessing it probably isn't sealed in a time lock? Or run by gang of genocidal immortals hell-bent on wiping out the world?"

"David was – when he was Mortal – born and raised in Calverstone, and – when he came to work for Pathway – his first major role was there" Sophia explained "And while he likes working here, he always enjoys going back, and tends to make a big deal out of it" She paused, then smiled "So no – it isn't sealed in a time lock"

"Thank god for that" Emily laughed "So – should I go find him?" Sophia tilted her head to one side, then smiled.

"That won't be necessary – I think he will be here in three... two... one..." The door to their office opened and David strode in.

"Daughter of mine" He nodded politely, then turned to Emily "Miss Brown – do you have any plans over the next few days?" Sophia turned back to her keyboard while Emily turned round to face him.

"No, David" She shook her head.

"The twins and I are going to visit a customer site, and now that you've been here for a while, I thought you could come with us – see how Valhalla works out in the real world, and meet a few of the people who use it"

"Okay" She smiled "That sounds like it could be fun"

"Then he's telling it wrong" Sophia said without looking round, making both of them laugh.

"My daughter's comments notwithstanding, there is a meeting about future enhancements, but yes – mostly it's a river of joy" He smirked as Sophia snorted derisively "I could do without the peanut gallery, sweetie"

"Sorry Dad" Sophia grinned, then looked at Emily "All joking aside – it is worth going at least once – seeing how people use Valhalla does tend to give you a better appreciation for all the tech-support calls"

"Okay" Emily nodded and turned to David "So – when do we leave?"

xoxox

_Chapter 2 – Calverstone_

"...an energizer bunny, a funky Frankenstein's monster, a gigantic green gigashadow and a history of Hermione's hair" Emily let out a breath "Okay – I've played some entertaining versions of this game, but you three really take the biscuit"

"Thank you" Ella grinned "And I am going on a picnic, and I am taking an aquatic aardvark, a big ball of bright blue balloons, a carton of cherry coke cans, a Dalek's destruction of David's Doctor, an energizer bunny, a funky Frankenstein's monster, a gigantic green gigashadow, a history of Hermione's hair and an indigenous indigo-covered igloo" She looked at Sally, who smirked.

"I am going on a picnic, and I am taking an aquatic aardvark, a big ball of bright blue balloons, a carton of cherry coke cans, a Dalek's destruction of David's Doctor, an energizer bunny, a funky Frankenstein's monster, a gigantic green gigashadow, a history of Hermione's hair, an indigenous indigo-covered igloo and jovial, jumping jingley joey" She leaned back in her car seat and smiled "Dad?"

"I am gong on a picnic and pulling in to the services because it's time to change drivers" David glanced in the rear view mirror "Emily?"

"Yes, please" She blushed as she nodded. When she'd agreed to go on a road trip with three Vampires, she hadn't considered that she would be the only one who would need regular toilet breaks.

"Okay" He parked the car, then they all got out and looked around.

"We'll meet you in the cafe" Sally said, then she and Ella turned and walked off towards the row of shops at the edge of the services.

"Excitable, aren't they?" David smiled fondly.

"Being a father to eternally young teenagers must be fun" She returned the smile, then turned on her heel "If you'll excuse me..."

"Of course"

xoxox

Five minutes later, Emily pulled the stall door open and walked over to the sinks. She turned the tap on and began to wash her hands.

"Miss Williams" She stiffened, then glanced in the mirror. A young woman with red hair and glasses was at the sink next to her.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?" She hit the soap dispenser twice "They could be right outside"

"I have done this before, Miss Williams – right now Vector Delta is in the gift shop, while Vectors Echo and Sierra are looking at t-shirts in The Who Shop" The woman turned her tap on "Miss Pond got in touch to tell us where you were going. While it might just be a normal, routine client visit, we want you to keep an eye out for any sign of Circle activity"

"And what with me being entirely new to this, that never occurred to me" Emily hissed "Do you have any useful information, or can I stop risking my life for this?"

"There's a digital camera, preloaded with pictures of all the suspected Circle members and Elders we know of" The woman pushed a box along the top of the counter, and Ella picked it up, slipping it in her bag "If you get a chance, take pictures and it will try to match them up" She turned the taps off, shook her hands and pulled out some lipstick "This is only if you get the chance – maintaining your position is paramount"

"Okay" Emily nodded "That does sound like it could be useful... I will suggest it to my friends, although depending on when we get there, it might be closed" She finished off as Ella came in to the toilets "Sorry Ella – I had to get some loo roll..." The Vampire woman held her hands up "Yeah – you probably don't need to know that"

"Probably not" Ella shook her head "As unbelievable as it sounds, Sally and I have exhausted the shops, and Dad has filled the car up, so we're just about ready to go" She looked at the red-haired woman, then back at Emily "What were you talking about? You said you'd suggest something to us?"

"Oh – a new club in Calverstone" Emily nodded at the young woman "When I mentioned where we were heading, she suggested it" The young woman smiled, then walked over to the dryers "Though I know we're going to be busy, so we might have to leave it to next time"

"You never know" Ella grinned, then turned and walked towards the door. A few seconds later she stopped and looked back "You coming?"

"I'll be there in a moment" She nodded, then flicked the taps off. As Ella vanished through the door, Emily looked at the woman drying her hands, and gave her an almost imperceptible nod. The woman didn't respond, but left the toilets without looking back.

Xoxox

"Tardises are transdimensional by their nature, so saying a transdimensional, transcendental Tardis is somewhat tautologous" Emily grinned as Sally rolled her eyes "Sorry – force of habit" She paused "Since Arathan di... since Arathan left Pathway, I haven't had anyone to talk about the latest episodes with" She smiled "Plus I know you three are fans, so don't try to deny it" The three Vampires laughed "A sexy seductress named Sally from the sensuous sands of Saturn Seven"

"Pardon me?" Sally exclaimed from the front "I'll have you know I'm from Saturn Six, not Saturn Seven"

"Sorry" Emily laughed "So – who's next?"

xoxox

"Good afternoon – welcome to the Calverstone Inn" The receptionist stood up, then smiled "Mr Thaxon – welcome back"

"Thank you Anita" David smiled warmly "Three rooms please"

"Of course" Anita nodded, looking down at the terminal in front of her. She typed a quick set of commands, then looked up "Okay – you are in rooms 312, 313 and 314" She turned and picked up three door cards, then ran them through the encoder "Here are your room keys" She looked over at Emily "Will you be wanting breakfast in the morning, Miss Brown?" Emily looked across at David, who shrugged.

"It's up to you, Emily" He said with a smile. She smiled.

"Okay" She turned back to Anita "Yes please"

"In which case it is served between 7 and 10am, and you have a choice of Continental and Full English" Anita smiled "Enjoy your evening"

"Thank you" David nodded, then turned and handed Emily the key to 314 "There you go. The room comes with a seat for dinner, although we won't be joining you, obviously" Emily nodded "Enjoy your evening, Miss Brown – we will see you after breakfast at half past eight tomorrow morning"

"Okay" She gave the twins a nod, then turned and headed towards the lift.

Xoxox

Walking along the corridor towards her room, she glanced round, then reached out and pressed her hand against the wall.

A few feet further down, she did it again, then a third time as she reached the door to her room.

"Time to see what Melody's little toy can do" She said to herself with a smile.

xoxox

Once she was settled in her room, she made sure the door was locked and pulled the camera out of the bag.

"Okay – lets see what this can do" She pointed it at herself, and took a picture. Flipping it over, she watched as the display ran through a series of images faster than the eye could see, then displayed a message saying "No match found"

"Well – that is kind of cool" She admitted, then she turned it off and slipped it back in to her bag. Looking around the room, she reached back in to her bag and pulled out the netbook she'd brought from home. With a few swift moves, she connected it up to the TV then turned both of them on.

"So what should I watch now?" She said to herself scrolling through a series of videos "No, no, no... oh – yes!" She opened the file, skipped through a few minutes, then lay back on the bed with a smile as a man dressed as a Roman Centurion strode through the spaceship doors.

"WHERE. IS. MY. WIFE!"

xoxox

Two and a half hours later, she came back to her room after taking an hour over dinner. True to their word, the three Vampires hadn't joined her, but she knew that – even though the vast majority of Mortals were completely happy with the idea of The Substitute – a lot of Vampires still preferred to feed in private, away from prying eyes.

"I'll say one thing" She said to herself as she opened the door to her room "They have very good taste in hotels – that steak was amazing" She closed the door behind her, flicked the lock then walked over to the netbook.

"Now – lets see what the three of you are up to" She started up the program she'd coded the week before, and turned on the wireless connection to the three lipstick cameras she had placed earlier that evening.

"Hi-ho, Hi-ho, Lets see where they might go" She sang quietly, then she stared at the screen with a smile "So far, so good. I guess I haven't missed them yet" She glanced at her watch "If there is a meeting, they have to leave soon, or they'll arouse suspicion when they come back" She looked up at the screen again, then smiled as she saw David coming out of his room, and the twins coming out of the other one "It's show time"

xoxox

_Chapter 3 – The Gathering_

"Friends – it is good to see you all again" David stood at the front of the meeting hall, looking out at the assembled group of Vampires "It has been too long since I stood before you, but the demands on my time have become more pressing, and I find myself with less free time to devote to just catching up old friends from home"

"But my time has not been wasted. The group that we started after numerous attacks – attacks that went unpunished and sometimes even unnoticed by the powers that be – is flourishing, with new members flocking to our banner every day" He paused as cheering filled the room "We now have members in every walk of life, pushing our cause forward so one day we will see the glory that awaits us – the right to live our lives as we see fit, and not to cower before the lesser beings"

"The year has not been without its setbacks, but also not without its triumphs. Following the work of our brethren north of the border, we were able to hunt down and eliminate an entire cell of The Friends – thirty five of our Mortal enemies killed, even as they plotted another of their nefarious and evil assaults on the innocents of our kind" He looked around at the expressions of glee and happiness "But their funeral pyre will mark the first beacon that will light our way to freedom – that will see us arise to take our place" There were further cheers, and this time he let them go on for a few minutes. Then he waved his hands for quiet again.

"But we should not rest on our laurels, nor should we relax our guard. My girls – my beloved daughters Ella and Sally who join us tonight – were forced to take action when one of our Mortal staff learned too much. The Mortal bitch found evidence that – while harmless on its own – could have been enough to trigger an investigation by the fools in The VLA, or even by the scum from The DWP" He paused "However the girls took the matter in hand, and dealt with the traitor in the manner that all traitors should be dealt with" He looked down to where Sally was sat on the front row, and nodded. She returned the nod, then stood up and turned to face the gathered Vampires.

"When we caught up with her, she was trying to send the information to The VLA" Sally explained "But we put a stop to that, and then my sister and I used all the methods at our disposal to find out what she knew"

Xoxox

Emily lowered the camera, and stared at Sally with a look of utter revulsion. She had been taking pictures of the crowd, hoping that the camera would pick up the faces of people they were looking for, but the revelation that it had been these two Vampires who had killed Arathan was too much to bear.

"We took our time, but by the end of our interrogation we knew everything she knew" Sally continued with a grin "Sadly by that point the Mortal bitch knew very little other than the pain and the blood"

"You should have heard her beg for her life" Ella added, then put on a high, falsetto voice "Please – don't kill me" She laughed, her voice returning to normal "After we had finished, we kept her alive for another hour or so, just to try out some new methods we were working on"

Emily bit her lip, and felt the blood run on to her tongue. Watching the two Vampires girls kill Toby and Sam had been difficult, but the urge to charge in to the meeting hall and rip their heads from their bodies with her bare hands was almost overwhelming.

She took a deep breath, then raised the camera again, and started taking more pictures.

However, a few minutes later, she lowered it as something David said caught her ear.

"I bring a message from The Third Elder, our Master Caradoc" He said with a beaming smile – a smile that matched the one Emily now wore.

"Caradoc is an Elder?" She thought to herself. The Five Elders made up the inner sanctum of The Circle of Ixion, and had been on The VLA's and MLA's most wanted list for almost twenty years, despite their identities being clouded in secrecy. The fact that she now knew the name of one of them – and had direct access to him – was earth shattering to say the least.

"Almost worth the price of me having to listen to this reactionary drivel" She grinned again, then she took another dozen or so pictures as she realised the meeting was coming to an end, and that she should get back to the hotel before the others beat her there. Explaining what she was doing out in the middle of the night might prove difficult, and she knew if they realised she had seen the gathering, they would kill her without a second thought.

She snapped a few more pictures, and was ready to withdraw, when she saw David come back to the stage.

"My friends – we have achieved much, but there is still more to do. For too long, we have lived in the shadows. For too long, we have been second class citizens in our own country. For too long, our destiny has not been in our own hands" He paused as there were cheers through the room.

"We put up with endless dictates from the other government – a government we had no say in the formation of" He smacked his hand on the podium in front of him "We are forced to live under a treaty that none of us had a say in forming – a treaty we have been forced to endure for eighty years without once being asked if we wish it to continue" He slammed his hand down again "We are not free to decide how we wish to govern ourselves – a right that Mortals have fought and died for is denied to us simply because our political masters believe they know better – well I say NO MORE!" More cheers erupted as he thrust his fist in the air.

"The day will come when we take our rightful place as rulers of this country – of this world" He smiled "I can already foresee the day when The MLA, The VLA, The Evelings and even The Coven will bow before our will! When we will take control of our destiny, and take the place we were born to take!" The cheers erupted again, then a number of the assembled Vampires jumped to their feet, and Emily realised they were starting to sing.

_The sun on the meadow is summary warm  
The stag in the forest runs free_

The rest of the Vampires began to fall silent, one by one, letting the singing ring out.

_But gather together to greet the storm  
Tomorrow belongs to me_

From the podium, David smiled down benevolently on the singing group, while more Vampires began to join in.

_The branch of the linden is leafy and green  
The Rheine gives its gold to the sea_

Emily started to back away slowly, unable to take her eyes off the unfolding drama.

_But somewhere a glory awaits unseen  
Tomorrow belongs to me_

As she reached the edge of the grass surrounding the hall, Emily flinched as three more voices joined in – those of her boss, and his two daughters.

_The babe in the cradle is closing his eyes_  
The blossom embraces the bee  
But soon there's a whisper – Arise! ARISE!  
Tomorrow belongs to me 

She sprinted down the drive to the wall that surrounded the meeting hall.

_Oh Fatherland, Fatherland show us a sign  
Your children have waited to see_

Tucking the small camera in to her jacket, she scaled the outer wall, and dropped down the other side.

_The morning will come when the world is thine!_

As she fled in to the darkness, the sound of singing rose behind her, sending shiver at shiver down her spine.

**_TOMORROW BELONGS TO ME!_ **

Xoxox

_Chapter 4 – New Gomorrah_

She arrived back at the hotel twenty minutes later, then waited another five for a large group of guests to enter at once. Slipping in to the middle of the group, she walked in to the hotel, then peeled off and headed towards the fire escape.

Picking the lock, she flew up the emergency stairs and on to the third floor. One more picked lock later she walked casually down the corridor until she was in front of her room.

"Emily?" She looked round as Ella, Sally and David walked down the corridor from the lifts "Is everything okay?"

"What?" She looked back calmly "Oh – sorry, yes" She nodded "I watched a few of the episodes I brought with me, then thought I'd go for a walk" She grinned "Then I got talking to a guy on the lift – kind of cute – and ended up going to the fifth floor" She blushed "I didn't want to admit what I'd done, so I walked past him and came back down the stairs" The two girls laughed while David smiled in amusement.

"Well – you should get some sleep. We start early in the morning" He said when they had all calmed down.

"Of course" She nodded, then opened her bedroom door and went inside. She closed it behind her, then flicked the light on and froze, listening to what they were discussing outside.

"Is she telling the truth?" David asked in a quiet, almost silent voice.

"Yes" Ella nodded "She isn't smart enough to lie, and the indicators didn't vary – no increased heart rate, no perspiration" She glanced at her sister, who nodded in agreement.

"Okay" David smiled "Get to bed you two – I will see you in the morning"

"Yes, father" They both nodded and vanished in to their room, while David went in to his.

Emily stayed in the same position for a few more minutes, then she walked over to her desk, and pulled the netbook towards her.

"Okay...okay" She nodded to herself, then pulled the camera out of her jacket, and a small black box out of her bag. She attached both of them to the computer, then took a deep breath.

"Time Can Be Rewritten" She said in a flat tone. The netbook opened up a program, then brought up a password dialog "Who Do You Serve And Who Do You Trust" The dialog closed, and then a series of modem commands flashed up the screen, the final one indicating that communications had been initiated.

"Always good" She smiled, then she opened up Quo Vadimus, then frowned.

"Who am I again?" She said to herself "Oh – yes. Jane Jones" She typed in the avatar details, and logged in.

xoxox

"Why, oh why, do dead drops always have to be made here?" She asked herself as she walked along the sea-front. The town of New Gomorrah was essentially one large brothel, with the occasional casino, drinking den and cut price marriage chapel thrown in. She hated it – ever since she and Amy had taken a holiday there a few years before.

They had been under the impression that the town could not be as bad as the descriptions and reports made it out to be, only to find it was twenty times worse. They'd left the day after, and – aside from when their duty required it of them – neither of them had ever returned.

But, she had to admit, the fact the entire town was based in anonymity and secrets did make it a good place to conduct especially covert meetings.

This time, the dead drop involved leaving the package she was carrying under the northern most pier.

"As places go, it could be worse" She thought. The last covert drop she had been asked to carry out had involved posing as lap-dancer and leaving the package in the back of one of the most disreputable clubs in the worst part of town. She hadn't had to perform an actual dance – the room was completely private, so she had just spent twenty minutes talking to the agent who had come to pick up the package – but walking through the main dancing area was definitely an education, and one she could have done without.

She looked around, and let a soft smile cross her face. For all the seediness and generally degenerate nature of the town, there were places that were kind of pretty. The games masters had out done themselves with some of the architecture, and the view across Barney's Bay at sunset was truly beautiful.

"Hey darlin! How about you and me find a private room and have some fun" A voice came from behind her. She turned to see a guy twice her age – clearly drunk – looking at her salaciously.

"Then again – the sooner I get out of here..." She quickened her pace, leaving the drunk behind, and headed towards the northern pier.

Xoxox

Fifteen minutes later, she straightened up, having buried the package beneath the fifth metal support from the wall.

"So – do I go home, or do I have a bit of a play on the beach?" She smiled "Like it's even in doubt" She bounded out from under the pier and down towards the water's edge. Before she reached the tide, she sat down, and – using a discarded bucket, started to build a sandcastle.

Every so often she looked over her shoulder, then smiled as a middle-aged man with pale blonde hair walked up to the location she'd buried the package and started digging.

"Jessie Pond" He had done three or four dead-drops with her before – including the one in the strip club – and he was one of the few agents she had met in real life as well as in the virtual world.

Once he had picked up the package and left, she looked down at the sandcastle and smiled.

"Not my best work, but not bad for twenty minutes" Jumping to her feet, she turned and walked along the beach to the nearest set of stairs, bounded up them and got back on to the prom.

"And now I just need somewhere to disappear" She looked around, then saw an alley down the side of an adult cinema "That will do, I suppose" She continued walking at the same pace, then – when she reached the cinema – she started to turn right in to the alley, but stopped when she caught sight of something across the street.

"That wasn't there when I arrived" She said to herself, staring at a statue across the street. She looked at it for a few moments longer, then shrugged "Then again – long day, busy night, need sleep – not a good combination for being uber-observant" She turned back to the alley entrance and set off down it.

Half way down, she vanished.

Xoxox

Emily logged out of the virtual world with a slight smile.

"The Bearers Crossed The Sea To Where The People Don't Die" She said in the same, flat tone she used before. A series of commands shot up the screen, then the black box turned Itself off "I Open At The Close" The netbook screen flashed once, then went dark.

"And now – time for bed"

xoxox

_Chapter 5 – Lenore_

"Good morning Emily" Emily looked up from the document she was reading as David, Ella and Sally walked in to the restaurant "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you" She nodded, putting the papers back on to the table "I was just reviewing the plan for today, and I noticed something about the integration system..." She trailed off as David held his hand up.

"You can tell us on the way to the office, Emily" He said kindly, then looked at the near empty plate in front of her "Are you finished?"

"Yes, thank you" She said again, then she stood up and picked up the paper from the table "How long will it take?"

"About ten minutes, depending on the traffic" Ella said "And my sister's driving of course – she drives like Miss Daisy"

"You think I should drive like you?" Sally snorted in amusement "We want to get there today, without going via the local police station"

"Oh come on..." Ella retorted, then stopped as David held up his hand.

"Daughters of mine – enough" He said quietly, and they both fell silent, looking slightly penitent "Since we have time to spare, I think Emily should drive us – it would be helpful if she learned the way in case she needs to come back alone one day"

"Yes, father" The two Vampire girls said in unison, while Emily smiled.

"Then we will call that settled" He glanced at his watch "Lets go"

xoxox

Forty minutes later, Emily pulled the car in to a parking space in front of the Eagle Printing offices, turned the engine off, then looked at the three Vampires.

"Did I mention with the sorry?" She said, looking very apologetic.

"Don't worry about it" David smiled, looking amused, while Ella and Sally exchanged amused grins in the back seat.

"I didn't see the sign, and..."

"Don't worry about it" David repeated, holding his hand up "The one way system here is confusing enough for people who've lived here all their life – for your first time, you did pretty well"

"But..."

"Like I said – there might be a time when you need to come back here on your own" He continued in the same, kind tone "This won't be the last time you get lost, Emily – my guess is it will take five or six times to get used to it..." He paused, then cast an amused grin over his shoulder "Which will still be six times faster than my daughters." Emily looked over to where Ella had an incredibly sheepish expression.

"Really?"

"It's why Dad was going to let Sally drive this morning – every time I come to the corner by The Cattle Market, I always turn left instead of right, and end up having to circle The Centre to get back on the right path" She shook her head "I don't know why – I just feel the irresistible urge to turn left"

"Well – you're only human" Emily smirked, then added "So to speak" Ella laughed.

"Either way – we're here, and we didn't die nor did we get arrested" Sally said with a grin "Which is pretty impressive, given our history" Ella whacked her on the arm, then turned to her father.

"Dad – we should be going in. Lenore will be waiting" She glared at her sister "And we have a lot to do today"

"Yes – of course" David nodded, then the four of them climbed out of the car, and walked up to the front door.

As they reached it, it was pulled open, and Emily found herself facing one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen.

"Let me guess – Ella turned left at The Cattle Market again?" Lenore of Kallas said with an amused smile.

Xoxox

Five minutes later, Lenore lead them in to one of the conference rooms, to where a dozen or so people were sat at the arranged tables.

"Everyone – may I introduce Emily Brown" Lenore said, then gestured to the room "Emily, this is – everyone" She smiled "You'll learn everyone's names as you go – and I am pretty sure if I tell you now, you'll forget before the meeting is over"

"Almost certainly" Emily nodded, looking at the assembled group, trying to determine which were Vampires and which were Mortal. She took the seat that Lenore gestured to, and decided the group was split about fifty-fifty.

"Okay – we have three main topics to get through today" Lenore and David strode to the front of the room, while Ella and Sally sat down either side of Emily "First – Emily and David are going to look over the system to ensure that everything is up to scratch, and to give Emily a good idea of how things work in a live situation" She glanced at Emily, who nodded, blushing slightly.

"Second – meetings this afternoon with the key users to discuss future planning – the schedule for these will be in your email when you get back to your desks – and finally Lucy will be taking Emily on a quick tour to show her how Valhalla is used" She paused, then looked at Emily again.

"Sorry in advance for taking about you in the third person" Emily nodded, and Lenore continued "If you could all give her your utmost co-operation, and answer any questions she might have" Everyone round the table nodded, and Emily went slightly more red.

"Very well then" Lenore clapped her hands together "Tom, Daniel, Emma, if you could remain, the rest of you – we will see you this afternoon"

xoxox

"Emily – this is Tom Banner, Daniel of Kallas and Emma Frinton" David said as the three Pathway staff walked over "Tom and Emma are in charge of system and network support, and Daniel is the main Valhalla administrator" Emily nodded at them "They're going to take you to the central hub and show you the system core"

"Okay" Emily nodded "Aren't you coming?"

"I have something to discuss with Lenore – I will catch up with you this afternoon"

"Oh – okay" Emily shrugged, then turned to the other three staff "I am at your disposal"

xoxox

_Chapter 6 – Consultations_

"So – you wanted to talk?" Lenore said as David sat down opposite her. He looked around.

"Are we..."

"One second" She reached forward and flicked a switch under her desk. A moment later, he heard the sound of bolts sliding in to place, and then the lack of sound from the outside world "Okay – I've put up the noise dampeners, and no one can get in"

"Good" He paused "Firstly can I thank you for letting me lead the meeting last night?"

"You are welcome" Lenore nodded "While it would normally be my place, as one of the Elders, I believe in letting every loyal soldier do their part" She smiled "From what I hear, you did very well – were very inspiring"

"I do what I can, my Lady" He tilted his head in acknowledgement "Which brings me on to my next topic – the young lady I brought with me today"

"Miss Brown?" Lenore raised one eyebrow questioningly "She seems nice enough, for a Mortal"

"I was thinking of..." David paused, then took a breath "I was thinking of recruiting her" Lenore gazed at him for a few minutes, looking thoughtful.

"Do you think that's wise? The more Mortals who join our group, the larger the risk of one betraying us"

"My daughters have been sounding her out" David replied, then – at the slightly alarmed look on Lenore's face – he added "Not about the group, but about the world in general and the political situation we live in"

"And what have they learned?"

"That she is not a big fan of The VLA – she was attacked at the end of August, and the Mortal fools pretty much ignored it, which didn't please her at all – and she is not adverse to the idea of being turned" David replied calmly "She says she wants to do a few of the Mortal things – marriage, sex, that sort of thing – but I am pretty sure they are just passing fancies"

"Can you trust her?"

"That part I am still working on" He admitted "When we disposed of the Mortal traitor Foster, she didn't seem to think we were connected with it. She did baulk at the drug angle, but that was about it"

"So she wasn't suspicious?"

"No" He shook his head emphatically "While I will carry out more checks, and redo the background vetting again, I am fairly sure she will pass with flying colours, and that she will make a fine addition to our cause" Lenore gazed at him for a few moments longer, then nodded.

"Very well – discuss this with the other three before you proceed, but – further security checks pending – you have my approval to proceed"

"Thank you"

xoxox

"So – you've been working for Pathway for what? Four months?" Emma asked as she and Emily looked over the server room.

"Pretty much – my probation ends on the 9th of November" Emily tilted her head to one side "Which does make me wonder why they picked five months? Instead of three or six – it's kind of an odd value..." She trailed off as she realised Emma was looking at her curiously "Sorry – I sometimes get sidetracked and go off on wild tangents"

"No worries" Emma grinned "My husband is the same" She glanced over her shoulder to where Tom and Daniel were working on the database server, then back at Emily "Daniel, if you are curious" She saw Emily's eyebrows go up in surprise "What?"

"Sorry" Emily blushed "The staff at Pathway are used to this, but – to give you a quick summary – I grew up in a town that was remarkably un-Vampire friendly, and so the last four months – working at Pathway – have been pretty much my first exposure to The Coven"

"Ah" Emma nodded "Well – as long as you don't start spouting Friends' propaganda, I'm sure we'll get along fine"

"I promise" Emily mimed crossing her heart "But even after four months, some things still surprise me – I haven't met a mixed-nation couple before"

"Not surprising" Emma smiled "The law was only passed two years ago, and even then you have to go through two months of what they politely call 'validation', but is essentially an excuse for The VLA to pry in to every aspect of your life" She rolled her eyes "I understand why they do it – the seductive nature of of Vampires could be used to seduce a Mortal against their will – but honestly, it is a tad invasive"

"But how do you..." Emily started, then trailed off "You know what – I think I'm going to ask you about your back up systems, and how you deal with making back ups of the live systems when they never shut down" Emma laughed.

"You aren't the only one to ask" She smiled "But – to answer your question – we run a shadow system – a customised version of mirroring – and we run the backups from the shadow drives, rather than the real ones"

"But..."

"The shadow archive is taken off line for two hours every night, which is long enough to do the back up. If things need archiving during those two hours, it gets held on the temporary shadow servers until the system comes back on line" Emma saw the slightly blank look on Emily's face "Yeah – the first time Danny explained that to me, I was confused as well" She paused "Imagine it like a train station"

"A train station?"

"Sometimes Train A arrives after Train B but needs to depart before it, so they shunt Train B in to a siding until Train A is gone" Emma paused "On second thoughts, ignore that because it is nothing like that" Emily laughed.

"Okay" She looked around the server room again "How do you cope with the updates? I mean – the automatic update server can pull down half a gig of updates at a time – how do you propagate them?"

"Very carefully" Tom's voice came from the far side of the room, and both women turned "We usually run the minor patches over lunch, or in the hour after general business ends"

"And the major upgrades?"

"Lenore decided that it was better to shut down the office for half a day so that we have time to do it properly" Daniel said with a smile "The first time we tried to do a major upgrade while the staff were still working we almost wiped out the entire database, and crashed twenty separate computers"

"Oh my god" Emily exclaimed.

"Hence the reason we don't do it any more" Tom added with a smile "The upgrade server is here" He gestured to one of the keyboards on the desk "Would you like to..."

"If I may?" She nodded, then sat down in front of it and logged in.

xoxox

"So how did it feel?" Ella and Sally were sat in the conference room, talking to one of the Eagle staff. He looked at them eagerly "Torturing the traitor? Did it feel good?"

"You have no idea" Sally grinned luxuriantly "The feeling of holding an actual, Mortal heart in your hands is..." She paused "You can dream about it, imagine it all you want, but it's like nothing you can describe"

"And although I love The Substitute – although it is everything that Mortal blood is – the taste of blood that you have ripped from the veins of another..." Ella trailed off "Nothing like it"

"Wow" Aldron said, looking envious "Do you think... I mean... could I come along? Next time?" The two women exchanged glances.

"We'll talk with our father, and with the Elder" Ella nodded "After all, we should encourage those who are willing to do what needs to be done"

"Thank you" He grinned "What about the woman? The one you brought with you? Do you think..."

"It's a nice idea, but our father has plans for her" Sally leaned forward conspiratorially "He thinks that we can recruit her – make her one of us"

"Oh my" Aldron leaned back in his chair "You know – I think I would like that" He looked at them hopefully "Do you think that I could be the one? To do it I mean?"

"We'll let you know" Sally said with a smile, then looked up as there was a knock on the door. She straightened up in her seat "Come in" The door opened and Emma, Emily, Tom and Daniel came in.

"We've shown Emily everything to see in the server room" Emma said "So we were going to take her for lunch, if that's okay"

"Of course" Ella nodded "The work groups start at two this afternoon, so be back by then"

"Of course" Emma replied in the same tone, then turned to Emily "Okay – lets go have some fun!"

xoxox

"Father – I think that one of the new recruits could become a problem" Ella and David were strolling through the gardens behind the office.

"Which one?" He asked in a calm, measured voice.

"Aldron" She replied "Turned three years ago, recruited six months back"

"Why should he be a problem?" David glanced at her "Is he untrustworthy? Could he be a DWP plant?"

"No" She shook her head "Nothing like that. In fact, I might be overreacting a little – it could be nothing"

"Never the less, you thought it worth bringing up, so clearly it must be something" He stared at her "What do you think he might do?"

"He seems..." She paused, screwing up her eyes to try to find the right word. A moment later, she nodded to herself "He seems indiscreet, Father"

"Sorry?" David stopped walking and turned to face her "What do you mean?"

"He seemed very interested in the way we dealt with the Foster bitch" She replied "In what it was like – the touch, the sounds, the taste" She saw a look of understanding come across his face.

"You're worried that he will take it as the trumpet call" He said, and she nodded "And since he is young, he might not be able to restrain himself from acting?"

"As I said – I might be worrying about nothing, but our continued existence is dependent on our ability to remain undetected" She continued in a quiet voice "If one of our members starts killing at will..."

"You mean like you did with your sister?" He asked archly, and she gave a sheepish nod in acknowledgement.

"I admit that was... somewhat wrong, but Sally and I have been doing this for a while, and we were both very careful. I am not sure that a new born would be capable of being equally careful" She paused then let out a sigh "If I am wrong about him, then I apologise for speaking out of turn..."

"Never apologise for speaking your mind, daughter of mine – I value your opinion, and if I think you are wrong, I will not hesitate to tell you"

"Thank you father" She smiled "If I am wrong, I apologise, but if I am right, and he does do something... extreme..." She trailed off, letting the potential outcomes speak for themselves.

"Very well – I will talk to Lenore, and to the cell leader here, and see what they think" He held up his hand as she opened her mouth "I will pass on your concerns to them, daughter and make sure they are given appropriate weight" She smiled, then they turned and started walking back towards the building "And since we are talking about your opinion, what do you think of recruiting Miss Brown?"

xoxox

"Welcome back everyone" Lenore stood up at the front of the conference room again "You should have all read the schedule by now, and so you know what we intend to achieve before the end of the day" She looked a the four Pathway staff "Each working group will have one representative from Pathway, who are there to advise on what should be necessary and what would be possible" She smiled at them "You should feel free to be as forthright as you want – we would much prefer to have realistic ideas than to come up with the best idea in the history of ideas, only to learn that you can't actually do it" David nodded "Very well then – lets go"

xoxox

_Chapter 7 – A Good Day's Work_

"Good god" Emily flumped in to the back seat of their car, then shifted over to let Ella sit next to her "Is it always like that?"

"Pretty much" Sally nodded as she slipped in to the passenger seat.

"Oh" Emily leaned back, resting her head on the back seat "So – now that I'm not in the offices, am I allowed to be rude about the customers?"

"Have at it" David said with a grin.

"How do people who use computers every single day not understand their basic limitations? How do they not understand that time passes the same for us as it does for them? How do they not get that while computers can do multiple things at once, the majority of users don't have the same ability?" She paused for breath "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" She realised that the twins were staring at her with identical amused grins.

"Is that everything?" David asked with a laugh. Emily put on a thoughtful expression.

"Yeah – I think I am done" She smiled "Sorry"

"Don't worry about it" He waved his hand dismissively "So – despite the fun and frolics of dealing with users, did you at least find the visit worthwhile?"

"Yes, actually, I did" She nodded with a grin "Seeing how they configure the integration side, and how they deal with the system management side, has given me one or two ideas" She paused "And while Daniel and Emma were somewhat over enthusiastic during the working group meetings, they had one or two good suggestions that we should consider"

"Such as?"

"Their method of running what they call the shadow-archive is fairly impressive, and they think it can be adapted to work with the whole of Valhalla, so that users will get an automatic backup of all their files"

"Don't we do that already?" Ella asked.

"Yes, but their method is more efficient and organized" She continued "And I think we could adapt it to the audit trail as well" The three Vampires looked at her silently "What?"

"Usually we don't come away with anything, because the demands are either things we were already going to do, or things that are so utterly ludicrous it would be almost impossible" Sally replied "Even given that it's Calverstone and Lenore is one of our wiser and better customers, generally we come away with maybe one idea that's only half feasible"

"Oh" Emily paused "So do you want me to burn the notes I made? Just to keep in line with the normal pattern?" They laughed again.

"No – that's fine – if you actually have ideas, we'd love to hear them when we get back" David guided the car round a roundabout then turned right "Now – we can either go home tonight, or return to the hotel and leave in the morning"

"Okay" Emily nodded.

"And as much as I know you hate making decisions, it is pretty much up to you, Miss Brown" David smiled "We can pretty much drive all night, but I figured since today was pretty long, and way more taxing than a normal day at Pathway, you might want to rest this evening" Emily smiled in relief.

"Thank you" She said warmly "I must admit, I wasn't exactly looking forward to a four hour drive tonight"

"It is not a problem" David grinned back "Once we get back to the hotel, you can rest for a while, then we'll go out and get something to eat"

"All of us?" Emily raised her eyebrows in surprise "I mean... sorry" She shook her head "You'd think I'd be used to it, but that's the second time today I've acted surprised about something I should know better about"

"Second time?"

"Emma and Daniel" Emily smiled "I had never considered the whole Mortal/Vampire marriage thing, and it kind of took me by surprise"

"It is rare" Ella admitted "Mostly because of the... physical aspects" She grinned "We are a tad more... energetic than Mortals, and sometimes things can get broken"

"Like beds?"

"Like bones" Ella said, causing Emily to blush bright red "But yeah – it is becoming more common, so you might want to get used to the idea"

"I'll do my best" Emily replied with a smile.

Xoxox

Closing the door to her room, Emily turned and flopped, face first, on to the bed.

"Please god let me never have to do that again" She said to herself "How is it possible that grown adults can squabble so much?" She rolled on to her back and stared at the ceiling "At least, there is one bright side"

**Flashback**

" _Hence the reason we don't do it any more" Tom added with a smile "The upgrade server is here" He gestured to one of the keyboards on the desk "Would you like to..."_

" _If I may?" She nodded, then sat down in front of it and logged in._

_For a few moments she typed away, reviewing the configuration, then she paused, reaching down to scratch her leg._

_As she did, she slipped her hand in to her sock and pulled out the small bug she had put there earlier that morning._

_She returned her hand to the keyboard, then adjusted it slightly while attaching the bug to the bottom of it._

_She continued typing for another few minutes, then looked back at Emma._

" _I think that's all I need to see – thank you"_

**End Flashback**

She slowly got to her feet and walked over to the desk, pulling the netbook out of her bag.

She went through the startup sequence, then started the counterpart program to the bug.

She watched for a few minutes, her smile growing slowly wider as lines and lines of information flowed up the screen.

"Wow" She leaned forward, staring intently at the screen as she realised what she was seeing "I am GOOD!" She turned the counterpart off and leaned back in her chair.

"Okay – one more thing to do" She logged on to the Broken Quill fanfiction site, went to a forum she was pretty well known on and started writing a post.

_I'm pretty sure that we'll see them again. The Christmas Episode might not feature them – just to give us a break from the wedding and the Silence stuff – but my guess is that they will be back in the next series._

_I know we'd all like to see them sooner, but to be honest it risks destroying the credibility that the senior staff have built up and might destroy everything they've worked for._

_Next year, at the very least._

She re-read the post, then nodded and clicked save. When it appeared, she grinned, then logged out of the site and leaned back in her chair again.

"Well – even if the ideas don't work, and even if I never visit another customer site every again, getting the bug in to the server room was a good day's work" She grinned "And for that – I deserve a reward" She put her hand down on the mouse again, and opened up the video program "And what I really need..." She scrolled down the list until she found the one she was looking for "...is a Doctor"

xoxox

_Chapter 8 – Coming Home_

The next morning, after she finished her breakfast, she checked the forum, and smiled at the responses she had got to her post.

"Emily? You ready to go?" Ella said from outside the door.

"Just packing up the last of my stuff" She called back, then shut down the netbook and put it back in to her bag.

She looked around the room, just to make sure she hadn't missed anything, then she picked up her bag and her case, slung her jacket over her arm and walked over to the door.

She pulled it open and found herself face to face with Ella.

"Would you like me to carry anything?" She asked. Emily smiled.

"Thank you, but no – I've got it" She turned and closed the door, then followed Ella down the corridor towards the lifts "So – what's the plan for today?"

"We're going to drive back to the office and stop in, just to see what's happening" She smirked as Emily's face fell "You won't be expected to stay, or to do any work – my father just thought that, since we have been away for two days, we should find out what's going on"

"I suppose" Emily smiled "I am just looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again" They stopped in front of the lifts and Ella pushed the call button.

"Not a fan of hotels?"

"Oh – no – they're fine" She replied quickly "But I grossly underestimated the free time I would have, and ended up watching some of the episodes twice"

"And what a pain that must have been" Ella grinned at her, making her laugh as the lift arrived and they got in.

"Okay – it wasn't exactly a torture, but still – next time I will bring some extra stuff" She paused "Or maybe I will get to finish that screen play I've been working on"

"You're writing a movie?" Ella asked.

"Just for fun" Emily nodded "I started it a while back – before I came to Pathway – and haven't really done anything on it since"

"What's it about?"

"A fictional world called Pallatium, where a new Queen is elected and starts making a lot of changes, most of which are pretty bad" She paused "It's mostly a tale about the differences between good, right and necessary, and although you have a choice, sometimes there isn't a right one"

"Sounds interesting" Ella smiled "Do I get to read it?"

"It's no where near finished – I've only just got to the school scene, and that's less than a tenth of the way through" She grinned as they walked out in to reception and walked out to the car park "Maybe when I have got through the first part, I will let you see a copy"

"Cool" Ella beamed. They reached the car and Emily opened the boot and put her bags in "Dad and Sally will be down in a moment – they're going to check us out. Do you want to drive the first shift? It'll be about half an hour until – just to the first services"

"Okay" Emily nodded, and pulled the driver's side door open and got in "My word"

"What?" Ella asked.

"Your father is very tall – did you know he was that tall?" Ella looked to see Emily waving her feet a good six to eight inches from the pedals.

"I hadn't really noticed" The Vampire woman waved her hands, gesturing to her legs which were quite long.

"God save me from tall people" Emily rolled her eyes as she adjusted the seat.

Xoxox

"Reports are coming in, sir" The chief comms officer kept his eyes on the screen where the results of the morning's raids were flashing up, one after the other. Around them, the rest of the staff in the CnC office went about the work of coordinating the raids against the Calverstone cell of The Circle.

"Tell me" His commander responded, walking up behind him.

"Charlie, Delta and Echo Teams are still carrying out their raids, but so far there are no fatalities" The comms officer paused "Beta Team is finished – twenty dead, twelve captured, no fatalities from the team"

"What about Alpha Team?" The commander leaned forward, staring intently at the screen.

"Nothing from them... no...wait" He paused, completely unaware that the entirety of CnC had stopped to listen to him. For a few seconds, he stared at the screen, then he leaned back in his chair "Alpha Team has reported" He said, now staring at the screen in wonder.

"And?" The commander asked "What happened?"

"There was a massive fire fight in Eagle Printing, and there have been three injuries from our team"

"What about them?"

"Three dozen arrests, fifteen dead, including..." The comms officer trailed off, then grinned "Sir, Lenore of Kallas has been confirmed killed – I repeat Lenore of Kallas is dead" For a second, there was absolute silence, then a massive cheer went up around the room.

"Hush up!" The commander said loudly, and the room fell silent "Can you confirm that – one more time?"

"Alpha Team – please confirm your last report" The comms officer typed. For a few moments, the screen stayed blank, then the message flashed up again "It's confirmed, sir – the Butcher of Calverstone is really most sincerely dead" As he finished speaking another burst of cheers filled the CnC office.

Xoxox

Four hours later, Sally pulled the car in to the Pathway Software car park, switched the engine off then turned to face the others.

"And a zombified zoological zebra from Xanadu" She said with a smile, then frowned as Emily raised her hand "What?"

"Xanadu is spelt with an ex, not a zed" Emily said. Sally stuck her tongue out, making Emily and Ella laugh.

"Emily – if you'd like to go home, I am pretty sure no one will mind" David said as they started getting out of the car.

"I should probably see how Sophia's getting on" She replied.

"Worried she'll be stuck without you?" Ella said with a laugh, but Emily shook her head.

"Honestly – I'm worried she'll realise she doesn't need me and will start doing all the work on her own"

xoxox

"Good afternoon Emily" Sophia smiled as Emily walked in to the office they shared "I wasn't expecting to see you today"

"I'm not staying long" Emily returned the smile "I just wanted to see if I'd missed anything important while I was away, and what I can expect to return to tomorrow"

"Honestly? Pretty much nothing has happened in the past two days" Sophia admitted "No support work, no customer problems – no nothing"

"Really? Cool" Emily grinned "So I can go home, relax and come back tomorrow?" She asked, and Sophia nodded "Excellent" She turned back to the door and pulled it open, only to see Sally and Ella rush past, deep in conversation. A moment later, Luna and David stalked past as well.

"Lu?" Sophia had walked up beside Emily "What's wrong?"

"Oh – nothing. Caradoc just wants to be updated on the trip, and asked me to take minutes" The receptionist replied calmly.

"Does he need me?" Emily asked.

"No" David shook his head "We can cover your part – you get on home"

"Okay" Emily shrugged, then – as David and Luna vanished down the corridor – turned back to Sophia "I guess I will see you tomorrow"

"So it seems" Sophia looked down the corridor, then turned back to her "Oh – I read something online last night about the Christmas Special"

"Really?" Emily raised her eyebrows curiously "Something fun?"

"The rumours are that none of them will be back – a totally new set of companions" Sophia paused "Sounds good, don't you think?" Emily gazed at her for a moment, then smiled.

"Sounds perfect"

xoxox

"...and we have some breaking news..." Emily looked up from the book she was reading as the newsreader paused "...The JSA – The Joint Security Agency – has announced that one of the most important and active cells of The Circle of Ixion has been destroyed" Emily let out a whoop of joy "We are expecting an announcement from the head of The JSA in a few moments... yes – we can go over to her now" The picture on the news changed to show a young woman standing behind a podium.

"Thank you – for those of you who are unaware, my name is Clara Moss, and I am the head of The Joint Security Agency – a group set up five years ago to co-ordinate joint actions between The VLA and The MLA" She paused "Earlier today, under the authority of both Agencies, my agents carried out a series of raids against a number of suspected Circle strongholds. Despite encountering heavy – and in some cases armed – resistance, each and every raid was carried out successfully. The JSA task force took only light casualties – twelve injuries, only two serious, and no fatalities" She let the assembled reporters finish taking notes, then continued.

"The full list of arrests and casualties is still being compiled, however I am very please and proud to announce that Lenore of Kallas, wanted for numerous crimes against The Compact, against The Evelings and The Mortal Nation, was killed during a raid on her headquarters, along with two of her deputies and a number of foot soldiers" Clara stopped as a ripple of interest went through the group of reporters "There will be a further briefing later tonight, and another in the morning, by which point we hope to have completed the lists of arrests, casualties and other statistics, however I am going to answer a few questions now" A forest of hands shot up.

"Miss Taylor?"

"Given that you don't have a complete list of casualties, can you say whether any innocent victims might have been killed in the raids?"

"While it is impossible to say definitively, standard rules of engagement prohibit firing first, and permit only the use of reciprocal force in all cases" Clara replied.

"But you can't say for certain?" The reporter pressed.

"Not at this time, no" Clara shook her head "Miss Nable?"

"You said that Lenore of Kallas was wanted for numerous crimes – can you tell us what they were?"

"The list is too numerous to fully detail in this press conference, however I can say that she was the key suspect in the murder of three government ministers in 1991, the attack on VLA headquarters in 1972 and, most importantly, the bombing of Sceptre Park in 1989" She paused.

"Why was she never arrested for these crimes?" Nable continued.

"The Circle of Ixion has powerful friends" Clara shrugged "Miss Jonas?"

"Does this mean the end of The Circle of Ixion?"

"Sadly, no" Clara sighed "At our last projections, The Circle has over five thousand members, spread out all over the country. However today is a big step forward in ridding the country of this heinous terrorist organization" She paused "There's time for one last question – Miss Pind?"

"There have been a lot of stories in the press recently about the government and the two agencies abusing their prisoners and extracting information under torture" The reporter looked up at her "Can you guarantee that Walsingham Rights of all those arrested today will be respected?"

"I have seen the same stories you have, Miss Pind, and I can promise you now they are nothing but lies. A year ago, a full, complete and independent audit was carried out of all interrogations and the treatment of all prisoners, and there was absolutely nothing found to even suggest there have been any abuses or instances of torture" Clara glared down at her "The JSA, VLA and MLA all abide by The Compact, and all those arrested during the raids today will be treated in accordance with the laws set down"

"What about The DWP?" Pind asked.

"If The DWP was a real agency it would also be bound by the same laws" Clara smiled "However, since it isn't, it doesn't really matter one way or the other, does it?" There was a ripple of laughter, then she closed the folder of notes "That's all the time for questions I have, but as I said, there will be another briefing tonight and further briefings tomorrow. Thank you"

The TV flashed back to the newsreader, who was staring at the screen with a slight look of shock on her face.

"Well – there you have it" She blinked a few times "A massive blow against the criminal group that has been terrorising this country. Clara Moss, Head of The JSA, announces a large number of Circle members arrested or killed in a series of raids across the west country" She paused, then continued "In other news..." Emily flicked the TV off, then leaned back on her sofa.

"Arathan – my friend – that one was for you" She said quietly, then glanced at her watch. Amy would be waiting for her, and somehow, Emily suspected, there would be a party in The Leadworth Arms the likes of which even God had never seen.

Xoxox

The next morning, Caradoc called a general staff meeting, and the staff assembled in the large conference room.

"As some of you probably know, yesterday we lost one of our major clients" He looked around the room at the staff "While the exact fallout of the events of yesterday afternoon are unclear, I anticipate that all of the support contracts we have with them are now void" He paused "The senior staff are going to conduct a full review of what our situation will be, and – as soon as we know, we will publish our findings. Hopefully we will be able to weather this – while Eagle Printing was a major customer, they were not our biggest nor our only one of that size" He paused "As for the matter of why Eagle Printing has been closed down – I can only say that I am truly sorry we got involved with such a group, and that neither I, nor any of the senior staff had any idea that of what Lenore and her employees were up to"

"As you know, we generally hold a company wide review when we lose a major contract" David continued "However in this case we are going to forego that review, because I think we can all agree what went wrong, that there was very little we could do to prevent it and there are very few lessons we can learn to stop it happening again" He paused, then let out a short laugh "Except not to get in to bed with terrorists if we can avoid it" There was a ripple of laughter around the room.

"For now – go back to work as normal, and we will keep you informed as we get more information" Caradoc finished "Ella, Sally, Luna – can you remain behind"

xoxox

** Interlude – Training Daze **

_(taken from "training review" section of personnel file RTX-3599-10642)_

Agent-Cadet Brown has demonstrated remarkable skills in both hand to hand training and weapons training.

" _So EB – you think you can take me?" Lily danced around in front of her, taunting her in a gently mocking voice. Emily stared back at her, then grinned._

" _You know what, LL? I think I can"_

" _Bring it on!" Lily took a step forward, raising her hands. Emily watched the way she moved, and which way she danced, then suddenly she shot forward._

_Lily saw her move to the left, so she feinted to the right and then – to her utter surprise and confusion – she found herself flying across the room, crashing in to the wall at the far end._

_She shook her head to clear it, then looked back down the room to where Emily was stood, hands on hips, staring at her in amusement._

" _So, you want to try that again?" Emily asked. Lily bounded to her feet and walked down the room until she was face to face with her best friend._

" _You know what, EB – I think I do" She said with a big grin._

" _Bring it on, LL" Emily replied, taking a defensive stance, she beckoned to her friend._

_Five seconds later, she was flat on her back with Lily stood over her, wearing a huge grin._

While she initially professed a preference to not use guns unless necessary, her training records show that she is top of the class in both short and long range weaponry.

" _The highest Mortal score on this exercise is seven hundred and fifty out of one thousand" The instructor turned to Emily "The highest Vampire score is nine hundred and ten"_

" _What do I get if I beat that?" Emily asked, checking the charge on the pistol in her hand._

" _From what I've heard, I fully expect you to beat seven hundred and fifty, and will be quite disappointed if you don't" The instructor replied, but Emily shook her head._

" _I meant the nine ten" She said with a grin. The instructor stared at her for a moment, then smiled._

" _I had heard you were good, and that you were very self-confident, but do you really think you can beat the Vampire score?"_

" _I can give it a shot" Emily shrugged "It's something to aim for" The instructor laughed._

" _Okay then" He nodded then turned and walked in to the booth "There will be a five second countdown, and you will have five minutes to take out as many targets as you can – but remember, every innocent will cost you one hundred points, and if you shoot more than five, the test will end immediately"_

" _Yes" Emily nodded, then closed her eyes. She heard the count down start._

" _Five" She took in a deep breath._

" _Four" She let it out slowly._

" _Three" She brought up a picture of Lily in her mind – a picture of the day they had met up again after all the years apart._

" _Two" She pictured Lily running down the course by her side, making sure she was protected from all attack._

" _One" With a last thought of Lily, she let all thoughts flow out of her mind until all she pictured was a single candle, glowing in the dark._

_A siren ripped through the air, and Emily's eyes flicked open. A tenth of a second later, she started forward, raising her gun._

_In the booth, the instructor watched the screen without mounting incredulity as the score counter went up and up. In less than thirty seconds it had reached one hundred, and twenty seconds after that it topped two hundred._

_He continued to watch, occasionally glancing out of the booth to see Emily turning and whirling on the spot, seemingly shooting at random, but hitting a target with every single shot._

_He looked back down at the counter, and smiled as it passed seven hundred and fifty with around one minute left on the clock._

" _Well done" He said to himself, then looked back up._

_Emily continued to fire as she heard the five second warning, then – when the second siren sounded, she lowered the gun, and walked slowly back to where the instructor was emerging from the control booth._

" _So – how did I do?" She asked calmly, slipping the gun back in to its holster._

" _Well – you blew away the Mortal record, much like I thought you would" He said with a smile._

" _And the other one?"_

" _I am sorry to say that you were ten points shy of equalling the Vampire record – you only scored an even nine hundred"_

" _Well – damn" She smirked._

" _But there is something you should keep in mind"_

" _And that is?"_

" _That the timer is only accurate to one one hundredth of a second, and that you kept firing until just after the siren sounded, so it is entirely possible the last two shots you fired, which both hit their targets less than half a second after the timer expired, would have given you the overall record" She looked at him thoughtfully, then shook her head._

" _It's a nice thought, but since it's impossible to say either way, I'll just stick with the score I have" She grinned "Although, if I can come back next year and try again?"_

" _I can't wait"_

In addition to testing highly on her physical training, Agent-Cadet Brown has tested very well in her field training and covert operations training. And while her scores show a definite aptitude, there is room for growth in this area.

_Emily looked up at her Field Ops instructor._

" _So – how did I do?" The instructor looked back at her with a slightly amused grin "Oh – that's probably not good"_

" _It is an improvement, but..."_

" _But what?"_

" _If you carried out the plan exactly as you described, then there are very good odds you would end up hanging upside down from the bridge by your grappling cable" Emily gazed at her for a moment, then smiled._

" _That's probably bad, right?"_

" _Just a little, yes" The instructor nodded with a smile "That aside, you would have achieved most of the goals, so I would normally consider it a pass. However the fact that you would most likely have been captured, tortured and killed does mean that I can't"_

" _I understand" Emily nodded "So – can you give me some advice on where I went wrong?"_

Over all, Agent-Cadet Brown remains an exception candidate for advancement, and her instructors agree she will be a huge benefit to the covert operations division, and to the agency as a whole.


	6. To The Future

**To The Future**

_Chapter 1 – The Invitation_

"Emily – David would like to see you in his office" Luna stuck her head in to the office.

"Now?" Emily span round on her seat to face the receptionist.

"Any time before the end of the day" Luna grinned "I think he wants to discuss your future at Pathway, since your probation period ends tomorrow"

"Ah" Emily nodded "Well – if it's okay, I will just finish this bit of code, then pop in, if that's okay?"

"I will let him know – five minutes?" Luna asked, and Emily nodded "Excellent. And congratulations by the way"

"Thank you" Emily grinned, then turned back to her computer as Luna closed the door.

"So – what do you think you'll do?" Sophia asked. Emily turned round again.

"About what?"

"Do you want to stay here?" Sophia continued "You must have thought about it – today and tomorrow are the last two days you can quit without penalty"

"Why would I want to quit?" Emily asked curiously "I am enjoying the work, I am enjoying the people I work with and – Arathan's... departure aside – the last five months have been quite entertaining"

"You aren't worried about the fallout from Eagle Printing closing down?"

"Honestly?" Emily shrugged "Not so much, no. The rest of our customers know that we didn't lose the contract with Eagle because of something we did, so I don't see it having a domino effect, and if Eagle really was a front for a terrorist group, then quite honestly they got what they deserved" Sophia smiled.

"So you're going to stay?" She asked.

"For as long as they'll have me" Emily nodded with a grin.

Xoxox

"Emily – thank you for coming" David stood up as Emily came in to the office.

"It wasn't a problem" She smiled "What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to know if you would like to have dinner with Sally, Ella and me tonight?"

"Pardon me?"

"I'd like to discuss your future at Pathway Software, but I don't think we can do it properly at the office" He said, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his desk "I thought that discussing it over dinner might be easier"

"And your daughters?" Emily asked, and David went slightly pink.

"I have learned that asking an employee out to a private meeting – especially a female employee – is sometimes not the wisest idea" He smiled at her "I don't think for a moment that you would do something like that, but I'd rather not put either of us in that position"

"So you invite two other members of staff – female members at that – to ensure that there is no perception of impropriety?" Emily smiled "Fair enough. What time?"

"Say 7ish? At The Emerald?"

"That serves food?" She asked in surprise "When?"

"I think it started about two weeks ago – the twins have given it rave reviews so far" Emily shrugged.

"Okay – 7ish it is"

Xoxox

"So what did our glorious leader want?" Sophia asked as Emily came back in to the office.

"He invited me out to dinner with him and your sisters" Emily sat back down at her desk "Seven o'clock tonight" She paused, then turned to face Sophia "You aren't coming?"

"I wasn't invited" Sophia smiled "Plus, to be honest, Ella and Sally have more experience in this sort of thing – I haven't really been here long enough"

"Oh" Emily shrugged "We're going to The Emerald – apparently it has started serving food, and they want to try it out"

"Sounds fun" Sophia grinned, then they both turned back to their computers and continued typing.

A few minutes later, Sophia turned back.

"If you want, I'd be happy to go for a drink with you tomorrow night – you know, once your probation is over and you are officially one of us"

"It's a date" Emily nodded, then smiled "Well – you know what I mean"

xoxox

"Are you going to make the offer?" Caradoc gazed across his desk at David.

"I admit – I don't know" David replied "She impressed me a lot on the trip to Calverstone, and my daughters – my twin daughters – speak quite highly of her" He paused "They also say that she is, to all appearances, very much allied with us politically"

"She is?" Caradoc looked at him curiously "A Mortal who supports a Vampire world?"

"I don't know if she would go that far, but she has displayed repeated and passionate dislike of The VLA and the Mortal government" David said calmly "They have let her down over her childhood friend Lily, and over the attack on her at the end of August and I think she blames The VLA for Arathan's death"

"Not liking The VLA doesn't necessarily translate to wanting them overthrown, David" Caradoc stared at him, but David simply returned the stare.

"I understand that, sir, but we badly need new recruits, and we badly need them in the Mortal world. The loss of Eagle Printing and of Elder Lenore is going to hurt us, and if we don't act to do something about it..." He trailed off, looking slightly sheepish.

"What?" Caradoc leaned forward "I have never known you not to be forthcoming, David – tell me what you want to say" David paused, then nodded.

"If we don't act to do something about it, then you and the other three Elders might find your positions in danger by younger members wanting action"

"Would those younger members include you, by any chance?"

"Of course not" David shook his head "I am, and always will be, loyal to you and The Elders, and so are my daughters" He paused "But the Circle has suffered at tremendous blow in recent days, and if you are to convince the younger members that we are still a force to be reckoned with, you have to show that you are intent on moving the group forward and taking what steps need to be taken" Caradoc looked at him thoughtfully, then nodded.

"Very well. Use tonight to learn as much as you can about Emily and her ambitions. Try to keep her occupied for at least two hours" He smiled "While you keep her at The Emerald, I will have Luna look for any sign that Emily might not be what she says she is"

"Yes, Elder" David nodded.

"And we shall meet tomorrow morning..." Caradoc paused "Although, I believe that Darren might be able to serve our needs as well"

"Darren?" David tilted his head to one side, then slowly nodded "Yes – I can see how that might be helpful" He smiled "Thank you, Elder"

xoxox

_Chapter 2 – The Offer_

"Emily" David stood up as Emily hurried up to the table in The Purple Emerald.

"I'm sorry I'm late" She said with an apologetic look "The car wouldn't start, I couldn't remember when the buses ran and so I ended up walking here"

"Oh my" David pulled a chair out, and she sat down gratefully "Would you like a drink?"

"Something cold, please – but not alcoholic" David looked at her curiously "The walk gave me a mild headache and I need to take some painkillers"

"Of course" David nodded, then turned and headed over to the bar.

"Would you like some aspirin?" Ella asked, picking up her bag, but Emily shook her head.

"I'm allergic" She pulled a box of paracetamol out of her bag, opened it and took two out "Thanks though"

"My pleasure" Ella smiled "Do you want to stay? I mean – we can postpone this..."

"It's just a headache" Emily held up her hand "I'm sure once I get a drink and take these pills, I'll be fine" She smiled weakly, then smiled slightly more brightly when David put a glass down in front of her "Thank you"

"My pleasure" David sat down opposite her while she took the pills and took a drink "Would you like to order, or..."

"If you could give me a few minutes" Emily smiled as David nodded "So – what would you like to talk to me about?"

xoxox

Luna walked casually along the road towards Emily's house, looking around with slight interest.

While this wasn't the usual type of job that her masters tasked her with, it wasn't the first time she'd done something like this, and she knew the best way to avoid drawing attention.

She reached the end of Emily's drive and stopped. She pulled out her phone, and pretended to check the screen for directions.

A few minutes later, she walked up to the door and knocked. A few seconds later, she knocked again.

When no response came, she turned on her heel and walked back down the drive.

Halfway down she checked no one was watching, then faded in to the shadows created by the large hedge that formed the border of the driveway.

Xoxox

"So – shall we get to why we came here?" David asked after they had finished their first course. Emily smiled, then nodded "Your probation ends tomorrow, and come Wednesday you will be a full-fledged member of Pathway Software" He paused "Assuming that's what you want? You can always hand in your notice tomorrow with no penalties or other problems"

"No – thank you, but I am going to stay" Emily paused "Assuming that you still want me to stay?"

"Of course" David nodded "Since your arrival, problems with new integration software have dropped dramatically, you have been working very well with Sophia and – despite the fact they are no longer a customer – you did very well during our visit to Eagle Printing" Emily blushed slightly pink.

"You are well liked around the office and your opinions are well respected" Ella continued "And, although I shouldn't really say it, the fact you have made friends with Sophia is quite an achievement in and of itself"

"Ella..." David said warningly.

"Sorry Father, but you know it is true" Ella replied, then she turned back to Emily "The staff like you, the senior staff like you and – as mentioned – the customers like you"

"Thank you" Emily blushed again "I had hoped I had made an impact" She paused, then added "A good impact obviously"

"Obviously"

"I mean – I could have accidentally set fire to the server room and burnt the office down, which – you have to admit – would have an impact"

"True" Sally grinned "But you didn't"

"I didn't" Emily nodded with a smile.

"So – the staff like you, the management like you and the customers like you" David said, smiling slightly "You have greatly improved the integration modules and, as has been pointed out, have been working very well with Sophia" His smile widened "While the final decision rests with Caradoc and the senior staff – including me, of course – I think I am safe in saying that if you want the job, it's yours"

"Thank you" Emily grinned happily.

"The day after tomorrow, we'll sit down to discuss the salary implications and other benefits of becoming a member of staff, but for now may I just say congratulations, and Pathway Software is lucky to have you"

"Here, here" Sally and Ella said in unison, raising their glasses. Emily followed suit, clinking hers against theirs, then put it down.

"So – now you know what you are doing in two days, what do you see yourself doing in five years?" David asked.

Xoxox

With a final look around, Luna slowly eased herself out of the kitchen window, and pushed it closed.

She looked around, then slowly pulled off the gloves and anti-static suit she was wearing. Folding them up, she slipped them in to the bag she left behind Emily's wheelie bin.

Picking the bag up, she walked towards the rear fence, and – once again – vanished in to the shadows.

Xoxox

"Thank you for an interesting evening, Emily" The four Pathway staff were stood outside The Emerald, waiting for Emily's taxi.

"You're welcome" Emily smiled "And thank you for – you know – employing me" David laughed "You don't have to wait for me you know – I promise I won't walk home – I will wait for the taxi"

"It's not a problem" David held up his hand.

"You must have better things to do though" She glanced at Ella and Sally "I would have thought you two definitely would"

"That may be true, but do you really think that we'd be able to enjoy ourselves if we went out partying knowing we left you here all alone?" Ella asked.

"And how would we feel if we abandoned you to go carousing and singing only to find out you had been brutally tortured to death when we get to work tomorrow morning" Sally added, making Emily stare at her with an amused look "What?"

"I think you could have phrased it in a slightly less scary manner, daughter of mine" David smiled, then turned as a taxi pulled up. He walked over to it as the driver wound the window down.

"Taxi for Miss Brown?"

"Yes" David nodded, then turned to find Emily walking up to them "Enjoy the rest of your evening, Emily, and we will see you tomorrow"

"Thank you" She grinned, then jumped in to the back of the taxi.

As it sped off, David turned back to his daughters.

"So?"

"Yes"

"Yes"

"Excellent. Caradoc is going to ask Darren to do the final test, probably tomorrow night, and the final decision will be made then, but I have to admit, I am pretty sure I want to say yes as well" He paused "Okay – you to go carouse, drink and party all you want, but remember..."

"Yes Father" Ella looked around "We will remember"

"Because with the events at Eagle, we can't afford for you to have your little... slip ups" He stared at them seriously, and they both nodded "Very well – have fun" He turned and walked down the street. The twin Vampires watched him go, then turned and bounded off in the other direction.

Xoxox

_Chapter 3 – Bugged_

Emily woke up the next morning, staring at the roof.

"Well – this is it, sweetie" She said to herself "One more day to go before you're in. Try not to blow it" She rolled out of bed and in to the bathroom.

Xoxox

Half an hour later, she sat down in front of her computer, and switched it on.

As she watched it boot up, she frowned. Something was a little off, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

The system continued to run through the normal start up, and she suddenly realised what was wrong – it was taking too long. Everything was running normally, but a fraction too slowly.

As the login dialog appeared, she pulled a flash drive out of her pocket, and plugged it in to the system. A moment later, the screen flashed and the dialog vanished. She watched the diagnostic program scan every part of the system, and her eyes widened as a bright red warning box flashed up.

"A key stroke scanner?" She shook her head in disbelief "I don't remember installing a key stroke scanner..." She trailed off, then looked around, and her eyes rested on the mantelpiece.

"Well, Amelia, what are you doing there?" She stood up and walked over to look at the row of figures on the shelf above the fireplace. Three weeks before, she had arranged them in a specific order, and now the Amelia Pond figure was out of place. She picked up the small figure and turned it over in her hands.

"Oh Amelia – this does not bode well" She put it down again then knelt down in front of the fireplace. Reaching over the piled up logs, she tapped the back wall. A panel fell open, revealing a laptop behind it.

She pulled it out, switched it on, pulled the wireless encryption hub out of her bag and connected it up.

"The Pandorica Opens" She said quietly. The wireless uplink connected, and the secure communications program popped up.

Typing quickly, she sent a message to Amy, then a message to Paul. Once she was sure they had gone, she shut everything down and put the laptop back behind the panel in the fireplace.

She stood up, moved the Amelia figure back to where it belonged, then turned and sat down in front of the computer on her desk.

"So – you're tracking my keystrokes, huh?" She stared at it, trying to remember what – if anything – she had done when she had got home the night before. After a few minutes consideration, she leaned back in her chair, a slight smile on her face.

"I suppose it could have been worse" She thought "And hey – maybe they enjoyed the story Amy told me" She looked at the computer again, then shut it down, pulling out the flash drive at the same time.

Xoxox

"Good morning Sophia" Emily bounded in to the office, then – with a grin at her colleague – flung her hat across the room, watching with glee as it landed on the coat stand "Oh yes – who's the man?" Sophia turned to stare at her "I said who's the man?" Sophia looked her up and down.

"If you think you are a man, it has been WAY too long since you went out on a date" She replied in a dead-pan voice. Emily stared at her for a few moments, then burst out laughing.

"Good point" She walked over to her desk, sat down and flicked the computer on.

"So – how did your meal go last night?" Sophia asked.

"Very well thank you – apparently I am a huge asset" Sophia smirked.

"I could have told you that" Emily rolled her eyes.

"I said asset" She laughed "Anyway – David thinks there will be no problem with me being offered a full time position"

"Well done" Sophia smiled warmly "I mean – I know I kid you a little, but I have enjoyed the past five months, and I'd hate to see all that good work go to waste"

"Thank you" Emily returned the smile, then turned back to her computer. She stared at it for a moment, then let out a slight sigh.

"What's wrong?" Sophia asked from behind her.

"I was just thinking how happy Arathan would have been" Emily replied, glancing at the Amy Pond figure on her desk "That I'd be on the same track as her, and that together we could become key members of the company" Sophia glanced at where Emily's hand was resting on the keyboard, then looked back at her.

"I admit I wasn't raised in the same environment and religion as you, but given my experiences I think that some type of life after death is not impossible" She stood up, walked over and knelt down in front of her "Maybe she's looking down on you now? Watching your every move?" Emily looked at her thoughtfully, then nodded.

"That would be nice" Sophia stood up and went back to her desk "Although, if she could leave me alone when I'm in the shower, that would be even nicer"

Xoxox

Two hours later, Emily was summoned to the large conference room where she found Caradoc, David and Ella waiting for her.

"Emily – as David no doubt told you last night, the senior staff will be happy to offer you a full time job when your probation expires tomorrow" Caradoc said in a calm voice.

"Yes, and thank you for the opportunity"

"You are most welcome" Caradoc smiled "However, as a part of that, you will be required to take on extra duties" He glanced at David, who pulled a piece of paper out of the folder in front of him.

"This is Darren Thomas" He said, handing her a photograph of a man in his early twenties "He runs a software house called Gemini Software, who have developed a rival product"

"Okay" Emily looked over the photo, then back up at David "You're not going to ask me to kill him, are you?" David laughed.

"No, however we would like you to take him out, if you have no objection"

"Pardon me?" Emily stared at him, confused.

"Valhalla currently occupies the leading market position, and Darren and GSI are unlikely to challenge that" Caradoc said "However, if we are wrong, and Gemini are going to swoop in and take our business away, we would like to know in advance"

"Okay" She nodded.

"So we'd like you to go out to dinner with him, and see what you can find out" Caradoc paused "Call it a reconnaissance mission, for want of a better phrase"

"Also, we'd like you to sound him out about the possibility of a partnership or a merger" David added "If, as unlikely as it seems, the Gemini product is as good as Valhalla, or better, then we could use our market position to help boost his sales and combine both our expertise" Emily nodded slowly.

"That makes sense I suppose" She paused "But there is something you are not telling me"

"There is?" David asked guilelessly.

"I am the most junior member of staff – I am not even a full member of staff yet" She said, gazing at him intently "And I realise that, as the most junior member of staff, I don't know the full ins and outs of everything, but I can't see why you would send me to do a negotiation of this scale, when you have much more experienced staff who could do it a lot better" The three Vampires exchanged glances, then – after Caradoc nodded – David turned back to her.

"I admit, this is partly a test to see how you do in situations like this" He paused "But we're also going to take the opportunity to... have a look round his office" He gazed at her, judging her reaction.

"So this is more about keeping him out of the way as it is about getting him to agree to a potential deal?" She asked after a moment.

"More or less, yes" He nodded. She stared back at him, then smiled.

"Thank you for being honest with me"

"So – yes or no?"

"Why do you want to look round his office, exactly?"

"From the previews we've seen and the few things we've heard, there are a lot of similarities between his product and Valhalla. Not just in the look and feel, but at the engine level as well" Ella leaned forward "He's also developed this product very quickly – a lot quicker than we did with Valhalla"

"Which leads you to wonder how, and whether or not his work might not be all his own?" Emily asked, and Ella nodded.

"We just want to make sure there is nothing untoward going on" She said with a smile "After the fiasco with Eagle Printing, we can't afford any more major problems"

"Of course" Emily nodded again "Okay – I'm in. Would you like me to arrange it?"

"We'll send out the invite for you" Caradoc stood up "We'll say that he is being invited to meet with a representative of our company to discuss issues of mutual benefit"

"You'll let me know when are where?" She asked, standing up as well.

"Of course"

"Thank you" She turned and walked towards the day, then turned back "And thank you for giving me this chance, and trusting me with the truth – I won't let you down"

Xoxox

"What did they want?" Sophia asked as Emily walked back in to the office.

"I apparently have a date tonight" Emily sat down, then turned to face her colleague. A second later, she burst out laughing at the stunned expression on Sophia's face.

"You have a date with David?" Sophia stared at her in utter confusion.

"No" Emily shook her head.

"Well – you can't have a date with Caradoc – he is four hundred years old" Sophia paused, blinked a few times, then shook her head "Ella?"

"No – Emily. We met about five months ago..." She grinned as Sophia rolled her eyes "And before you start spinning any exciting or interesting fantasies in your novel little mind, I have a date with man named Darren Thomas"

"Darren Thomas?" Sophia stared at her, her look becoming slightly more amused "The Darren Thomas?"

"I don't know" Emily looked at her "Is there more than one?"

"We can only hope" Sophia smirked.

"Why do I get the feeling there's something they didn't tell me about the man I'm meeting tonight" Emily leaned back in her chair "Okay – tell me what you seem to know – what everyone else but me seems to know"

"Darren Thomas has..." Sophia started, then trailed off, trying to think of the right words "He has a reputation for being a bit of a ladies' man"

"Oh?"

"A few of the staff here, and a larger number of the staff at a few other companies that have had dealings with Gemini, have been out on dates with him, and they've all ended up going back to his place and spending the night" Sophia smiled "From all reports, he is very hard to resist"

"From all reports?" Emily raised her eyebrows questioningly "You haven't had the pleasure?"

"William keeps me suitably busy" Sophia gave her a cheeky grin "Thank god"

"I don't suppose I could borrow William for the night?" She asked, making Sophia snort in amusement "Well – since I am in danger of getting seduced, I suppose I make some preparations" She paused "Do you have any aspirin?"

"I do" Sophia turned, opened her desk draw and pulled out a box. She tossed it across the room, and Emily caught it.

"Thanks" She paused "He's a Mortal?" Sophia nodded "Do you think I'll need... other types of protection?" Sophia laughed.

"You are so cute and adorable when you are embarrassed" She said with a grin "Seriously – you have no idea"

"Are you going to answer my question, or are you going to keep hitting on me?" Emily asked, blushing bright red.

"Do I get to pick?" Sophia asked, making Emily laugh "But – yes"

"Yes what? You are going to keep hitting on me?"

"Yes, you might need other forms of protection" Sophia rolled her eyes "That is assuming you let your passions overtake you and give in to his wiley wiles" Emily grinned.

"Well – you never know" She paused "Do you have any?"

"Sorry" Sophia smirked "I really don't have a use for them"

"Fair enough" Emily turned back to her computer, then span round a moment later "You don't see anything wrong with this?"

"Sorry?"

"The way Caradoc and David sold it to me was that it was a business meeting, and..." She trailed off, then shook her head "Now you are telling me that my boss and my boss' boss are essentially pimping me out?" Sophia laughed.

"They are only pimping you out if you let them, sweetie" She smiled kindly "And no – I don't see anything wrong with it. As I said – Darren can be very seductive, but he won't do anything you're not comfortable with, and in the end it will be up to you whether you go home with him or not" She paused, then smiled "I promise I won't think any less of you if you do, or if you don't" Emily looked back at her, then nodded.

"Okay then" She turned back to her computer, then sighed "You know what?"

"What?"

"If I'm going to be having sex with a strange guy tonight, I'm going to go shave my legs and buy a new dress" She jumped to her feet "I will see you tomorrow"

"Have fun" Sophia grinned at her "Try not to get lost"

Xoxox

_Chapter 4 - Darren_

"Miss Brown?" Emily turned to see a man about her age walking up the street towards her.

"Mr Thomas?"

"Darren"

"Emily"

"Have you been waiting long?" He asked, opening the door to the restaurant.

"I only just got here" She replied with a smile "The bus was a few minutes late"

"Good" He smiled, then said "Well – not good, but you know what I mean" They walked up to the head waitress "Good evening – my name is..."

"Mr Thomas – it is nice to see you again" She looked at Emily "And Miss Brown – also a pleasure" Darren turned to look at Emily.

"You come here a lot?" Emily blushed.

"Not so much, no" She replied, not meeting his eye.

"But..."

"Could we discuss it later?" She asked urgently, glancing at the head waitress "When we're in private? Or at least more private than this?" Darren smiled and nodded. The head waitress smothered a smirk, then lead them through the restaurant to their table.

"Would either of you like a drink?"

"Could I have a vodka and orange juice, please?" Emily asked.

"Same for me" Darren nodded, then they both sat down "So – Caradoc tells me that today is the last day of your probation?"

"Yes" Emily nodded with a smile.

"You are going to stay on?"

"Of course" She nodded again "Pathway is a very good company to work for, and I enjoy my job a great deal"

"And Caradoc and David?"

"Excellent bosses – I couldn't ask for better" Darren laughed "Why do you ask?"

"Well – I have heard good things about you from various sources, and I was considering hiring you away" She stared at him in surprise "What?"

"You wanted to hire me?" She asked, still sounding surprised "And you've heard good things about me?"

"I have" He nodded.

"From whom?" He opened his mouth to reply, then paused "That bad, huh?"

"Well... unfortunately, apart from the one or two Pathway staff I talk to, the other people I have talked to were Lenore, Daniel and Emma from Eagle Printing" He went slightly pink as she laughed.

"So you were going to hire me on the recommendation of terrorists and murderers?" She rolled her eyes "Why doesn't that make me feel all warm and fuzzy?"

xoxox

Amy paced back and forth in the back room of The Leadworth Arms, while Darthon watched her.

"You know – if I attached a dynamo to you, I could power the pub for the rest of the year" He said mildly, then took a step back as she whirled round to face him.

"My wife, the woman I love more than anything in the world, is out there with one of them" She said darkly "Forgive me if I'm not in the mood for your levity"

"She's been with them since she started working there" He reminded her "She went to Calverstone with three of them, and she came back perfectly safe and well" He reached out and took her hands "I know you are worried, Amy – I am a little worried too. The fact they searched her house and planted tracking software on both her computers is disturbing"

"So..." She started, but he held up his hand.

"But it might just mean they are taking the final steps to recruit her" He continued "You know that they are a somewhat paranoid bunch, and they might just be taking steps to ensure her loyalty once they bring her in to the fold" Amy sighed.

"I know" She walked over and sat down in one of the chairs "But what if they're not? What if this is a sign that they suspect who she is and are looking for evidence?"

"She can take care of herself, and we have four agents watching out for her, full time" She leaped out of her chair and bounded over to him.

"When did that happen?" She asked in shock.

"We took Eagle Printing down the day after she visited. And while we are a lot better at this than they are, I was somewhat worried that they might make the connection" He shrugged "So I asked for a protection detail for her"

"Does she know?"

"Not so much, no" Darthon shook his head "I thought if she knew she would either say no, or alter her behaviour in a noticeable way, and since you see her every day, I thought it best not to tell you either" He paused "I apologise – perhaps I should have kept you in the loop" Amy stared at him, then shook her head.

"No – you're right" She paused "And, as much as it's going to kill me, I'm not going to tell her either" She looked up at him "Sorry – I shouldn't have snapped"

"Don't worry about it" He grinned "I suspect that, before your assignment is finished, there will be a lot more snapping" She smiled at him, and he pulled her in to a hug "I care for her too Amy"

"I know you do"

"She'll be fine" She straightened up and looked him in the eye.

"I know" She sighed "So – how about a game of darts?"

xoxox

"So – why does Antoinette know you so well?" Darren asked as they finished their first course. Emily looked over to where the head waitress was showing another group to their table, then turned back to Darren.

"My first visit here was just after I started working for Pathway" She said, a slight brush creeping on to her face "I was trying all the restaurants in the area, and this was next on my list" She paused, then took a deep breath "My method of testing restaurants is to order an unusual dish, so I can see what they're capable of"

"Ah"

"When I came here, I ordered fried banana skins with cream and sauce" She looked over to see Antoinette walking back towards the front of the restaurant "What I didn't know was that was the first night it was on the menu, and I was the first person to order it"

"Was it nice?"

"It was scrumptious" Emily grinned "Nicest desert I have ever had" She paused "Which explains why I had two more servings" She blushed as he laughed "Consequently Antoinette and her staff remember me pretty well"

"You know – I honestly thought you were going to tell me that you accidentally set the restaurant on fire or something" Darren admitted.

"Well – that's why we are eating here and not at Maitlans" She smiled as he burst out laughing.

Xoxox

"How long do we wait?" Sally leaned back on the sofa, looking over at her father, Caradoc, Andrew and her twin sister, while Luna was pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace.

"We wait as long as we wait, daughter of mine" David said quietly "Darren is good at what he does – he will find out what we need to know, and then he will bring her here"

"Are you sure?" Ella gave her father a cheeky grin "I mean – given Darren's history with women, and the fact that Emily hasn't been on a date for what? Five months? And we haven't seen her with anyone in all that time either" David turned to stare at her.

"Are you suggesting that he will disobey his orders in favour of taking her to bed?" Ella stared back at him.

"I'm saying we could be waiting a long while" She replied with a smile.

"And I think you should remember your place..."

"People" Caradoc spoke quietly, but both David and Ella fell silent almost at once "I have every faith that Darren will put business before pleasure, as he always has" They both nodded "David – have you given more thought to your third daughter?"

"Sophia?" David asked, and Caradoc nodded "Both my daughters and I have had numerous conversations with her about the political situation under which we live, and she doesn't seem to have a problem with it"

"So she would be unwilling to help?" Caradoc asked in the same, quiet tone.

"I think that if she knew the truth, she would report us to The VLA and The MLA, and see us all hang" David replied "She is an idealist, and she truly believes that The Compact is the only future for both nations" There were a few moments of silence, then Caradoc shrugged.

"While I might disagree with her politics, it is good that the younger Vampires have an interest in politics and that they are willing to stick to their convictions" He smiled "If I may ask?"

"Yes?"

"Is she a danger?" Caradoc sat up and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees "She is a strong-willed idealist who believes in the rightness of The Compact. Such a person, if they chose to be, could be a danger to our goals" David looked at him thoughtfully, then shook his head.

"She is strong-willed, and she does truly believe that The Compact is what will save us, but she is not the type of go poking around, and while I might not be as close to her as I am to the twins, I know her well enough to know she is not going to do anything that might interfere with our plans"

"You are certain?"

"I am" David nodded.

"And you know what will happen if you are wrong?" David paused, then nodded again "Very well – we'll leave it at that" Caradoc glanced at his watch, then leaned back on the sofa.

Xoxox

"I have to admit – they are very nice" Darren looked down at the remains of the friend banana skins "I wasn't expecting them to be... so good"

"Then why did you order them?"

"Well – with such a lovely and discerning woman as yourself to recommend them, how could I resist trying them?" Emily smiled.

"Are you trying to flatter me, Mr Thomas?"

"Yes" He said with a smile "Is it working?" She returned his smile.

"Perhaps I will let you know after breakfast" He laughed.

"A woman as open and honest as I am – I think this could be the start of something good" She smiled, then looked at her watch "Somewhere to be?"

"What? Oh – no, sorry" She shook her head "I'm just surprised it's so early – it seems like we've been having dinner for ever"

"In a good way I hope?" He smiled at her hopefully.

"Of course" She nodded "So – time for a drink?" She glanced down at their plates "Or we could have another serving of banana..."

"I think I've had enough for one day" He said, patting his stomach "And, if it's alright with you, I have a nice bottle of wine at home that I think you might like"

"That sounds nice" She paused "But if you will excuse me, I just need to..."

"Powder your nose?" He asked with a slight smirk.

"I was going to say go for a pee" He burst out laughing "Well – it's fairly obvious what I'm going to do – why should I have to be coy about it just to fit in with some 19th century stereotype of how a woman should behave?"

"Well said" He nodded, then – as she walked off towards the toilets – he looked around for Antoinette.

Xoxox

Emily pushed the toilet stall door closed, then pulled out her phone.

_D – leaving for DTs home. Twenty minutes max. E._

Once the text had been sent, she slipped her phone back in to her bag.

"Hopefully that will be enough time" She said to herself.

Xoxox

David stood up as his phone started to vibrate.

"Dad?" Ella looked at him curiously.

"A message" He flicked through the various screens, then looked up with a smile "It's from Emily – she and Darren are leaving the restaurant and will be here in about twenty minutes"

"Okay then" Caradoc smiled "Anyone who has any reservations should speak now" He looked at each of the others in turn, all of whom shook their heads "Very well – when she and Darren return, I will make the offer" He paused "If she refuses..." He looked over at Luna "You will know what to do"

"Of course, Elder"

Xoxox

"So what do you do in your spare time?" Darren asked. They were sat in the back of a taxi, heading towards his house.

"Spare time..." Emily pretended to frown in concentration "I've heard of that – but I always thought it was a myth"

"Caradoc keeps you busy then?" He asked "Because, by my watch, you still have" He glanced at his wrist "Another one hour and fifty two minutes before you officially end probation"

"And I could tell them I am coming to work for you?" She looked at him seductively "Do you think you'd be able to provide more spare time?"

"I'm not sure it would be exactly 'spare', but there would definitely be less time working" He waggled his eyebrows up and down, making her laugh.

"Well – I am sure that would be a lot of fun, but I think – if it is okay with you – I am going to stick with Pathway and Caradoc, at least for the time being"

"Darn" He clicked his fingers "Well – since you aren't going to come and work for me, the least I can do is give you a night to remember" He moved over slightly until he was sat next to her, but then the taxi started slowing down "Oh damn me and my timing" She laughed again.

"Don't worry, lover boy – you've got all night to make your move" She dug in to her pocket and pulled out two ten pound notes.

"Oh – no" He held up his hand "Taxi mea, regulae meae" She stared at him for a moment, then smirked.

"My yew trees, my rules?" She asked, and he laughed.

"Latin was never my strong point – never really saw the point of it"

"I blame my upbringing – a lot of Latin in the church, most of which was pretty useless but some of it can occasionally be helpful" She handed the money to the driver "Keep the change"

"Thank you m'am" The driver nodded politely as the two got out of the car. As it drove off, Emily turned back to Darren.

"So – where is this bottle of wine you want to show me?" She asked.

"Walk this way" He turned and started walking towards the front door. She looked him up and down, then smirked.

"I'm not sure I can – at least, not in these heels" She called out "Can I just walk the way I normally do?"

Xoxox

"The wine is in the rack over the fridge" He said "I'll get it – just wait in the living room"

"Okay" She hung her jacket up, then pushed the door to the lounge open, and froze.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked in surprise.

"They're here because I invited them" She heard Darren's voice from behind her. She turned to face him.

"You?"

"Yes"

"Invited them?"

"Yes"

"To your house?"

"Yes" She stared at him for a moment, then turned back to face the group assembled in the lounge "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Yes" Caradoc nodded, then stood up "There is"

Xoxox

_Chapter 5 – The Invite_

"Then perhaps you wouldn't mind telling me what it is?" Emily asked, glaring at her boss.

"We have every intention of doing so" Caradoc smiled "If you would like to take a seat" Emily gazed at him a moment longer, then walked over and sat down in one of the comfy chairs. Caradoc nodded to Darren, who sat down at the end of the sofa.

"Miss Brown, for the last five months the senior staff at Pathway have been assessing you for your suitability for not one, but two positions" Caradoc walked to the middle of the room, then continued speaking "The first, obviously, was that of a computer programmer. And, as you are aware, you have exceeded our expectations in that light. And if, after I finish telling what is going on, you still wish to work for us in that capacity, then we will be privileged to have you" He paused, and Emily nodded.

"However, there are a few of us at Pathway who have an additional... purpose in life" He paused "We see the world the way it is, and find it to be grossly unfair to a certain class of people" He stared pacing back and forth "This country believes in democracy, freedom and liberty for all, and yet an entire section of society is treated as second class citizens. They are not permitted to be themselves, instead they are forced to fit themselves in to the narrow, bigoted definition of what the government says is acceptable" He turned to face her.

"We, the Vampire community, were once a noble race. We had culture, we had our own identity. And now – because of dictates from a government we had no say in choosing, we are forced to accept the Mortal world being shoved down our throat" His voice became more passionate "Every day, more and more of that world intrudes on ours, until now we feel like we are strangers in a strange land – that our world has been totally and completely subsumed by the... by the immigrants in to it" He shook his head.

"There are a group of us who want to do something about this. Who want to bring back the glory that was once was ours. Who want to stop all this interference from the government and the other nation" He smiled "In short, who want to make The Vampire Nation great again, instead of what it is"

"And you are in this... group?" Emily asked.

"We are" He gestured to everyone in the room "We are not the only ones – there are thousands of us across the country – but we form the local chapter of it, if you will"

"And you think I would be suitable to join?" Emily looked at him curiously "I am not a Vampire, Caradoc – so why should this bother me?"

"The government has more or less destroyed The Vampire Nation in its efforts to produce what it believes is a better society" Ella said from her right "At the moment, The Mortal Nation hasn't been all that affected all that much, but do you honestly believe if they think there is something wrong with what Mortals are doing that they will just leave well enough alone? That they won't force their decrees on you as well? That they won't end up creating one, single bastardized nation that takes the lowest common denominator rather than the best parts of each?" Emily tilted her head to one side, a thoughtful look on her face.

"I hadn't given it much thought, but now that you mention it, I can see what you mean" She admitted.

"Take The Walsingham Subsidy" Andrew spoke up "The Walsingham Labs provide NO benefit to the Mortal population, and yet we are forced to pay higher taxes to subsidise their salaries and their pensions" He shook his head "Why should we have to pay for something that doesn't benefit us? Why shouldn't The Vampire Nation support it, since they gain the most from it?"

"Or why should it be subsidised at all?" David asked from the corner "The Substitute isn't free, nor are the sunblock pills. So clearly they are making money from their inventions, and yet you have to foot the bill"

"It's the way it has always been" Emily shrugged.

"But if you asked people a hundred years ago, they would have told you civil war between the two Nations is the way it has always been" Caradoc smiled "Times change, and we should change with them" He looked down at her seriously "Which is where we come in"

"You want to make a better world for Vampires?" She asked, and he nodded "And yet you also think that the government will impinge on The Mortal world" He nodded again "Are you going to improve that as well?"

"We think that, given the right circumstances, a well regulated Mortal world would be of benefit to the Vampire nation as well" He paused "After all – a tidy and organized garden makes the life of the bees a great deal easier, doesn't it?"

"I hadn't thought about that" She paused "But yeah, I suppose it would"

"And so if we could get the right people in charge – ones that could see what needed to be done, and ones that could do it without any interference from people who think they know better – the ones who created this thrice-damned situation in the first place – then both worlds could move on" He knelt down in front of her, leaning on his heels "They could move on together, still at peace, but in a much stronger position" He took her hands "You, yourself, have expressed a lot of dissatisfaction with the way the world is organized at the moment"

"That's true" She nodded with a frown.

"The attack on you in August, the way they treated your friend Lily, the way they did nothing about Arathan's death... do I need to go on?"

"No" She shook her head, then brought up one hand to wipe her eyes "I admit – I had always thought that this is the way it is – that nothing could be done"

"Well – you don't need to think that any more" He stood up, pulling her with him "We believe that there is a better world out there – a world where we can live in peace, but on equal terms, on fair terms" He smiled "Would you be willing to help us build it?" She stared at him for a moment, then smiled.

"You know what? I think I will" She grinned "I've lost too many people to the mindless rules that govern this country, and it's about time I said no – no more" She looked up in to his eyes "Count me in"

Xoxox

Half an hour later, Caradoc looked around the room, then stood up.

"Well – I think we have made a good start" He said "But it is getting late, and there is still much work to be done" He glanced at David, who nodded and rose, along with his two daughters.

"We'll see you tomorrow Emily" He said, leaning down and kissing her cheek "And congratulations – you won't regret this"

"I know" She grinned back, then nodded to Ella and Sally as the four Vampires left. A few moments later, Luna and Andrew excused themselves, leaving Darren and Emily sat on the sofa together.

"So – not what you were expecting, right?" He asked with a smile.

"To say the least" She looked at him "Would you still like that drink?" He looked back at her, then smiled.

"I think I would" He moved to stand up, but she held him down.

"I'll get it – it's in the kitchen, right?"

"Yes – the rack is above the fridge, and it's the third row along, fourth one up" She got to her feet.

"I'll be back in a minute" She bounded out of the lounge and in to the kitchen "Okay – third along, fourth up" She pulled the bottle out, looked it at it, and rolled her eyes.

"I wouldn't give this to my dogs" She thought "If I had dogs that is" She picked up the glasses from the counter, and poured wine in to each of them.

With a quick glance over her shoulder, she reached in to her pocket and pulled out the box of aspirin Sophia had given her earlier that day.

Extracting two, she crumbled them up in to one of the glasses, then put the box back in to her pocket.

"Are you okay?" She turned to see him stood at the door "I thought you might have got lost" He said with a smile.

"I was just looking at the other bottles" She said with an equally warm smile "That's quite an impressive collection" She picked up the first glass and handed it to him, then picked up the second and took a sip "Mmmm – nice"

"A toast" He said holding his glass out "To new beginnings"

"To new beginnings" She smiled and clinked her glass against his. He nodded and took a long sip of wine.

"Well – shall we return to the lounge?" He asked. She nodded, held her hand out and – hand in hand – they walked back in to the lounge.

Xoxox

A few minutes later, she stood up, looking down at him.

"How do you feel about..." She glanced towards the hall. Darren smiled at her, then stood up. She took his hand again, and lead him out of the lounge, and up the stairs.

Xoxox

Walking in to the bed room, she lead him over to the bed, and he sat down. Then she took a few steps back, gave him a smile, and reached up to the top of her blouse.

As she undid the first button, he opened his mouth, blinked twice, then fell back on the bed, unconscious.

Emily walked over to the bed and looked down at him.

"I really have to talk to Walsingham about improving the time that takes" She did her first button up again, then knelt down beside him, whispering in his ear "You will remember that spent most of the night making love, and that we both had a very good time" She quickly undressed him and put him under the covers, then, with a final glance at the smile on his face, she walked out of the bedroom and back downstairs.

"So – if I were a terrorist, and I had invited someone home who I might not be entirely sure about, where would I hide all my secret files?" She asked herself, looking around. A few moments later, she pulled some latex gloves out of her purse, slipped them on, and walked over to the sideboard and started investigating it.

Xoxox

** Interlude – A New Assignment **

_(taken from "current assignment" section of personnel file RTX-3599-10642)_

While the majority of Agent 10642's work has been in the area of intelligence and research, her two assignments in the field have both proved very successful.

Her first field assignment was to Jersey, to infiltrate a cell of The Friends of Merlin on the island of Jersey. While the operation ran in to a few problems, the cell was eventually brought down with five deaths and twenty five arrests, including one of the Arch-Mages of The Friends. Although it was only a small cell, and not very powerful, the information gathered from the interrogation of the twenty five members lead to the destruction of another six cells, and continues to be used to this day.

Her second assignment was to investigate and report on the supply of guns and other weapons to The Circle. During this mission, she travelled to Panama, Austria and Sicily, and learned that the group supplying weapons to The Circle of Ixion were also supplying them to The Friends Of Merlin.

When informed of this fact, both The Elders and The Arch-Mages were unhappy (to say the least), and soon after, the arms supplier in question was found at the bottom of a Venetian Canal. Which severely weakened both groups ability to continue their criminal activities.

Following these missions, Agent 10642 was returned to I&R for a year or so, however two months ago, a request was made by her wife (cf 10511) for assistance.

" _You want me to get a job at Pathway?" Emily stared at Lily in surprise, then turned to Paul and her parents "And you all agree with this?"_

" _We know that Pathway software is a front for The Circle, but it seems that – despite the steps she has taken to get close to the senior staff, they still don't trust her enough to bring her on the inside" Her father said "We are hoping that a new member of staff – a mortal one – might have better luck at infiltrating the inner circle" Emily leaned back in her chair, then looked at Lily._

" _You'll be there?"_

" _Yes" She nodded "But you won't be able to acknowledge you know me – I'm probably going to be quite rude to you to begin with"_

" _I love you too, dear heart" Lily grinned._

" _We also won't be able to see each other outside of work" She continued "In fact, if you agree, this will possibly be the last time we can be together as a couple" Emily grinned at her._

" _Is this supposed to convince me to do it, because honestly – your sales pitch needs work"_

" _We will still have QV" Lily replied "Our contact in The Vadimi can get our avatars renamed and ensure that our history is altered, just in case people come looking" Emily gave it a few minutes thought, then leaned forward, taking Lily's hands in hers._

" _Is this necessary?" She asked quietly. Lily nodded. Emily gave her a fond smile, then turned to Paul and her parents "Okay. I'm in"_

Xoxox

**The Circle Closes**

_Chapter 1 - Investigations_

"Darren – you might be very charming and somewhat seductive, but you really suck at being a covert operative" She smiled, thinking about the various documents and photographs she had found during the two hour search.

She pulled her gloves off and slipped them back in to her purse, then stood up and stretched. Two hours pulling out bits of paper, copying them and then putting them back in exactly the same place wasn't the most fun she had had, but as far as her night job went, it was phenomenally successful.

While Darren wasn't one of The Elders of The Circle, he was, from all appearances, quite high up in what Caradoc had called the "local chapter". The documents outlined a fair part of The Circle's plans for the coming year, and the photographs were of most of the local Circle members – including Caradoc, David, Ella, Sally, Luna, Andrew and a few more of the Pathway staff – and a number of people who were described as being "of interest" - including Sophia, herself and a few people who were suspected members of The Friends of Merlin.

There was also a fair amount of evidence to suggest he was a very active solider for the cause, with twenty or thirty deaths under his belt, including assisting in the capture and interrogation of Arathan Foster.

She glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece – it was nearly two a.m.

"I should get some sleep" She said to herself, then sighed. While the idea of sleep seemed nice, it would mean lying next to Darren in the bed upstairs. Lying next to a man she would happily see strung up on a lamppost.

"Still – with what I've found tonight, that will probably happen pretty soon" She thought, and let a smile cross her face at the image. Then she took a deep breath and walked out of the living room and up the stairs.

Xoxox

The next morning, as her alarm went off, she rolled over to find Darren still asleep.

"I really have to congratulate them" She thought to herself "It might have taken a little while to kick in, but once it does, it's definitely effective" She got out of bed and slipped her clothes back on – no need to let him see more of her than necessary – then sat down on the bed and slowly started to nudge him.

A few moments later, he opened his eyes, looked up at her and gave her a big smile.

"Hello" He said, still smiling.

"Good morning" She smiled back "I have to go – I need to go home before I go in to work – but I thought I'd say goodbye, rather than just creeping out of the house"

"Oh" He blinked a couple of times then nodded "Okay" He leaned up and gave her a soft kiss "Would you like to do this again sometime? I had a nice evening, and I think you did too"

"I did" She admitted, blushing slightly "And I will let you know" She resisted the urge to smile as his face fell slightly "Oh – it's not you..."

"It's not you it's me?" He smirked.

"Actually it's not you or me – but from what I learned last night, I suspect my life is going to change a lot over the next few weeks, and I don't want to make any firm plans until I know just what those changes will entail"

"Ah" He nodded again "Okay – I will probably see you tonight anyway" She looked at him questioningly "There's a meeting after work, at the offices, and I've been asked to attend. I think it is to introduce you to the rest of our friends"

"That makes sense" She nodded, then glanced at her watch "I'm sorry – I've really got to be going" She stood up.

"You don't have time for a quick shower?" He asked, and she smiled.

"Sorry – no" She blew him a kiss, then turned and vanished out of the door.

Xoxox

Twenty minutes later she pushed her front door open, walked in and closed it behind her. Then she leaned back against it, eyes closed.

"Okay – time to let Amy know what happened, then I suppose it's time to go to work" She opened her eyes and walked in to her lounge.

Sitting down in front of her computer, she reached for the keyboard, then froze. Things were out of place again – the contents of her desk had been moved around and – as she looked over at the fire place – she noticed the three Weeping Angels were not in the same sequence.

"You know – not hiding the evidence that you've searched someone's house once could be viewed as an accident, but doing it twice is just careless" She thought, then she got to her feet and walked over to kneel in front of the fireplace.

"Thank god" She thought to herself – there was no evidence of any tampering – then pulled the panel down.

She reached inside and pulled out the laptop, then walked back to her desk and pulled the camera out of her purse.

Xoxox

Five minutes, and a lot of copying later, she disconnected the camera and pulled out the batteries.

She then carefully unscrewed the laptop case and pulled out the hard drive, memory chips and flash memory circuits.

Putting the hard drive in her bag, she took the rest in to the utility room at the back out of the house, opened up a large metal box and placed them inside.

Snapping the box shut, she pressed the three buttons on the front, then typed in a four digit code. For a second nothing happened, then there was a loud, crackling sound and a wave of heat blew past her.

Ten seconds later, the box popped open, and she looked inside to see everything had been fried. Giving them a quick poke, she assured herself that no one would be getting anything off them ever again, then she snapped the box shut again and repeated the procedure.

After the box opened a second time, she turned and walked back in to the lounge, looking at her computer.

"I'll deal with you later" She said to herself, then reached round and pulled all the cables from the back of it "But if they've hurt you in anyway, there will be hell to pay" She paused "I really have to stop talking to you like you're alive, don't I?" She span on her heel and headed off towards the stairs.

Xoxox

"Nice evening?" Sophia asked as Emily walked in their office.

"Nice enough" Emily nodded "I got everything out of it that I wanted to, plus a little more besides" She smiled "His reputation definitely does NOT do him justice"

"Oh yes?" Sophia raised her eyebrows curiously.

"Yes" Emily nodded emphatically, then reached in to her bag "Thanks for these – they helped a lot" She handed back the aspirin box, making Sophia smile.

"You are most welcome"

"I've also got that portable drive you asked for" She handed Sophia the laptop hard drive, enclosed in a black plastic case "I don't need it at the moment, so you can return it whenever you've finished transferring your photos"

"Thank you" Sophia gave her a big grin "It's this or floppy disks, and given that I have about a thousand of them..." Emily laughed.

"As I said – keep it until you're done" She smiled "Anyway – time to get to work" She turned round to her computer and switched it on, then turned back "If you're interested, I've got another date tonight – one that should prove even better than last night"

"Oh yes?" Sophia asked with a slight smirk.

"Yes" Emily nodded, then looking around, she leaned over and whispered in to Sophia's ear. When she finished, she sat back down, smiling at the amused look on her colleague's face.

"Well – I can't wait to hear all about it tomorrow" Sophia said after a few moments, then smiled "William and I will be having fun as well – unless you'd like to make it a double?" Emily tilted her head to one side, then shrugged.

"I'll let you know how it goes" Emily replied with a grin "You never know – maybe we'll want to be alone" Sophia laughed.

"Okay – I will play it by ear" She paused, then added "Just be careful – as you say, his reputation is not undeserved"

"I will" Emily nodded seriously "But honestly – I think tonight will be a lot of fun, and make me very happy"

Xoxox

_Chapter 2 – My Name Is Emily_

"Well – that's it for me" Sophia shut down her computer and pushed her chair back.

"You're off this afternoon?" Emily turned to see her picking up her jacket and bag.

"I have an appointment at 2pm that I can't get out of, so I thought I'd take half a day off" Sophia grinned "And since William also has a few days off..." She trailed off, grinning suggestively "Well – you probably have some idea already"

"Maybe a little, yeah" Emily nodded, smirking "Well – I would say have fun, but it sounds like that's on your list of things to do already" She paused, then added "Along with William" Sophia laughed.

"Quite" She stood up, slinging her back over her head and resting it on her shoulder "Well – enjoy yourself tonight" She paused, then tapped her bag "I will start the photos copying when I get home" Emily nodded, a slight smile on her face "Anything I should avoid?"

"No – I took all the personal stuff off" Emily laughed "I didn't think you needed to see the pictures of me and Paul..." Sophia held up her hand.

"I get the idea" She paused "Anyway – I will see you tomorrow"

"Have a nice evening" Emily waved as Sophia walked out of the door, then she turned back to her computer and continued working.

Xoxox

"Tonight" Amy sat down in front of Darthon in The Leadworth Arms "We have to go tonight"

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"We have more than enough evidence to arrest all of them, and to justify their deaths if it comes to that" She said quietly, looking around "And from what Rory has told me, they are possibly getting suspicious"

"And if we charge in, mob-handed with guns blazing, do you think they will be less suspicious?" She looked up at him.

"They are planning her induction tonight, Darthon – I think they are going to use it to try to get information out of her" She looked at him beseechingly "If they get to her – if they think she's lying..." He looked at her intently, then nodded.

"Very well – I will sort something out" He smiled "Do you know when the induction will be?"

"Probably about half an hour after the office closes, but if we are in place by five it should be okay"

"Will she be on comms?"

"Hopefully" Amy nodded "But if not, it will take place in the large conference room, and it just so happens..." Darthon stared at her, a surprised smile dawning on his face.

"You've bugged their headquarters?" She smiled proudly back "You are good"

"I know" She got to her feet "Five?"

"Five"

"Excellent"

xoxox

"Emily?" Luna pushed the door to her office open.

"Yes, Luna?"

"It's time"

"Thank you" Luna nodded and vanished, letting the door close. Emily took a deep breath, then reached down in to her bag, and pulled out a small black velvet box. Opening it, she took out the earrings inside, and carefully exchanged them for the ones she was wearing.

"I guess I should be going" She said to herself, then picked up her bag "Going to the large conference room to embrace my destiny"

xoxox

"Told you she'd be on comms"

"Yes – you're very smart" The man, dressed from head to toe in black, smiled "Okay – we go on her signal"

xoxox

Emily pushed the door open to the conference room and walked in, stopping as the door closed behind her.

Almost everyone from Pathway was there, along with a large number of other people she'd never seen before, but recognised from the photographs she'd copied the previous night.

"Miss Brown" Caradoc stood up and walked over to her, holding out his hand.

"Caradoc" She nodded politely as she shook it, then looked around "These are your... friends"

"Yes" He nodded, then turned to the rest "Friends – if I could have your attention please?" The room file silent almost at once "As you know, we have suffered some problems recently, but I believe that our fortunes are about to turn around" He turned to Emily "For the last five months, Miss Emily Brown has served Pathway Software faithfully and well, providing a large number of improvements to the integration module and the general operation of Valhalla" He paused as there was a polite round of applause.

"However, now that her probation period is over, Miss Brown has been made aware of the true purpose of Pathway Software, and has agreed to join our cause, for a better tomorrow" There was another round of applause, this time more enthusiastic.

"Already, she has proved willing to do as she is asked, to serve when needed and ensure that – one day – we will see our goal achieved" He paused as a ripple of cheers went through the room, then he held his hand up and silence fell again.

"Or at least that is what she says" He turned to look at her "However, I think that the truth is very different – very different indeed" As he spoke, Emily noticed that some of the staff were taking up new positions in the room – blocking off the obvious avenues of escape.

"Pardon me?" Emily stared at him in confusion.

"Eagle Printing has operated for nearly thirty years in complete secrecy. And yet a day after you visit there, half the staff are arrested, and the rest are killed" He stared flatly at her "Are you telling me that's a coincidence?"

"I..."

"That wasn't enough to prove it one way or the other, of course" Caradoc continued to stare at her "But it was enough to arose our suspicions"

"So you started to spy on me" She stared him in the eye "Planting programs on my computer? Going through my house?"

"You noticed then?" Caradoc smiled "When you didn't question it, we had hoped you hadn't, but I suppose that – given your other employer, it was too much to hope"

"Other employer?" She asked, trying to sound surprised, but he shook his head.

"You might as well stop pretending, Miss Brown. We know who you are, and we know who you work for" Emily stared at him for a moment, then smiled.

"So you know?" She asked "Well – at least I don't have to pretend any more" She paused "What gave me away? I'd like to know for when I go after the rest of your friends" Caradoc looked at her with an amused smile, then laughed.

"You are brave, I will give you that" He replied "We found evidence of covert, encrypted communications on your computer – we couldn't decrypt them, let alone read them, but it was enough to make us realise that you were not who you say you are"

"Well – I'll know better next time" She smiled at him "And now, if you aren't going to induct me in to The Circle tonight, I should be going – I've got a lot to do" Caradoc smiled back at her.

"You put on a brave face, but you must know you are going to die tonight" He said quietly "Although not right away. My friends will want to talk to you – find out what you know about us, about the other members of our group. What you are going to take back to The Arch-Mages..." He stopped as Emily started laughing "May I ask what is so amusing, Miss Brown?"

"You think I am part of The Friends of Merlin?" She asked in surprise.

"Of course" Caradoc nodded "You have infiltrated The Circle to report back to The Friends of Merlin so they can bring us down"

"Oh Caradoc" She shook her head "You think you are so smart, so wise and yet you have no idea what's going on"

"Well then, Miss Brown – if that really is your name – why don't you enlighten me" He stared at her with a patronising look. She slowly reached in to her back pocket, and pulled out a folded leather wallet.

"My name is Emily Brown" She said calmly, then flicked her wallet open "And I am a Special Agent in The DWP, and you are all under arrest" For a moment, there was complete and total silence, then Ella and Sally started laughing. A moment later, Caradoc joined in, followed by Luna, David, Darren and the rest of the room.

"You?" Sally called out "You are going to arrest us?" She laughed again "You and whose army?"

"Well – since you asked" Emily said "That would be this one" As she finished speaking, the room was plunged in to darkness, and the sound of smashing glass filled the air.


	7. Epilogue – And My Name Is Lily

_Epilogue – And My Name Is Lily_

"...continuing our coverage of the ongoing collapse of The Circle of Ixion" Emily leaned back on the sofa, cradling the cast on her arm. Three nights before, when Paul, Lily and fifty other DWP agents had stormed the Pathway offices, one of the Vampires had thrown her against the wall, knocking her unconscious, breaking her arm and giving her one hell of a headache.

However she felt that was a price worth paying, given that almost the entire cell had been killed or captured in the ensuing fire fight.

"Three nights ago, a combined force of VLA, MLA and Government Agents raided a number of buildings believed to be the head quarters of The Circle. Following a short but brutal battle, seventeen Circle members were killed, and eleven more arrested, including one of The Elders – the name given to the inner sanctum of The Circle" The news reader continued, making Emily smile "Following the raid, the captured members were questioned, giving up another seven cells across the country, leading to more than one hundred further arrests" Much to her surprise, the news reader actually smiled "A spokesman for The VLA has said that this is the biggest operation in their history, and that they foresee the complete and total destruction of The Circle within six months"

"Oh yes!" Emily grinned, then picked up the remote and muted the television "Honey? Are you okay in there?"

"Yes thanks" A woman's voice came back "Just looking for the cups"

"Do you need a hand?"

"No – you stay where you are. I'll be through in a moment" Emily rolled her eyes. She had been put on indefinite sick leave, and everyone was treating her like an invalid, despite the fact she had shown she was fully capable of taking care of herself.

**Flashback**

_As soon as the lights went out, she started to move. Running across the room, ducking out of the way of the battle that had developed almost instantly._

_She felt someone press a gun in to her hand, and looked up to see Paul moving past her, to where Caradoc was fighting with another figure in black._

_She felt someone grab her arm, and she span round, coming face to face with Darren._

" _You killed Arathan" She said "You killed my friend, and you had fun doing it"_

" _She was a danger to us and she deserved to die" He snapped, bringing up his arm to punch her in the face. Before he could complete the move, she shot him in the leg._

_As he fell to the ground, she kicked him as hard as she could in the side, making him cry out in pain. Then she knelt down next to him, pressing the barrel of the gun to his forehead._

" _If I had my way, I would make this last" She said, her voice filled with hate "But this isn't the time, or the place, so I guess I will just do it quick" He looked up at her, grinning._

" _You don't have the guts – you are just a weak pathetic li..." Whatever other insult he had been about to throw at her was cut off as she pulled the trigger three times in succession._

" _Good bye Darren – I hope you rot in hell" She stood up, then felt someone grab her from behind. Before she knew what was happening, she was flying across the room. A second later, she crashed in to the wall._

**End Flashback**

That was pretty much all she remembered of the fight. She had woken up in the ambulance with paramedics fussing around her, and then had swum in and out of consciousness for the next twelve hours, until she woke up in a hospital bed, Paul sitting to one side of her.

**Flashback**

" _So – how you feeling?" He asked. She looked down at the cast on her arm, then back up at him._

" _That kind of depends"_

" _On what?"_

" _On who we captured, who we killed, and where my wife is"_

" _She's fine – she wanted to be here, but is assisting with the tidy up at Pathway" He smiled "They needed someone on the inside to sort through all the files and so on that they've found, and since you are clearly not up to it right now, they asked her instead"_

" _But she's okay? She wasn't hurt?"_

" _She's fine – and she'll be along later" Paul nodded "As for the rest – Sally, Ella, Luna, Darren and Andrew are dead, along with a few others we have still to identify"_

" _Caradoc?"_

" _Captured alive" Paul beamed at her "We've already interrogated him, and he has given up the other three Elders in exchange for not being put to death" She gaped at him._

" _What else?"_

" _The location of four more cells. We raided them..." He glanced at his watch "... two hours ago, and are expecting to hear news any time soon"_

" _Oh yes!" She grinned, then paused "Hold on..." He nodded._

" _David wasn't amongst the captured, or the dead" He said "We don't know what happened to him"_

" _Well – that sucks" She sighed._

" _You and your wife will have a protection detail until he is found" Paul smiled at her "And don't bother protesting, this comes right from the top – we owe you – both of you – and we're not going to let anything happen to either of you"_

" _What makes you think I'm going to protest?" Emily grinned, then gestured to her arm "While I wouldn't say I am helpless, I am in no state to fight of a Vampire hell bent on revenge"_

**End Flashback**

She slowly got to her feet, and walked through to the kitchen, only to find it empty.

"Honey?" She called out. When there was no reply, she walked back in to the lounge, and froze.

"Hello Emily"

"David" She nodded politely, looking around.

"Are you looking for this?" He held up the pistol she had put on her desk "You know – you shouldn't leave guns lying around willy-nilly – they can be quite dangerous you know"

"I actually do know that" She said, her voice calm "Why are you here?"

"Why do you think?" He took a step forward "And don't try stalling for time – the protection detail your bosses assigned you isn't going to come riding in to your rescue" He smiled "Not after I ripped their heads off"

"Even if you kill me, there is no where you can go – every MLA, VLA and DWP agent knows your name and what you look like, and they all have orders to kill on sight"

"I know" David shrugged "The Circle is dying, and I have nothing to live for – you saw to that when you murdered my daughters" He paused, then grinned "But if I kill you, then I can die happy" He raised the gun and pointed it at her "And trust me – I will die very, very happy"

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Father" David span round to found Sophia stood in the doorway to the hall.

"Sophia?" He stared at her in complete confusion "You can't let me do what?"

"I can't let you kill my wife" She took a step forward then, before he could move, she leapt across the room and knocked him to the ground. As he struggled beneath her, she pulled a stake out from the back of her jeans.

"And my name" She said, plunging the stake towards his heart "Is Lily"


End file.
